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Factory: Wedgwood
Cream-coloured earthenware, painted in purple, two shades of green, and brown enamel-colours. Oval, pierced by a large central hole, and spaced smaller holes. Round the edge, between two narrow brown lines, there is a border of vine branches bearing bunches of grapes, and, on the rim, a broader brown line.
History note: Robert and Elizabeth Hirsch Collection
Given from the Robert and Elizabeth Hirsch Collection
Height: 1.6 cm
Length: 38.7 cm
Width: 27.6 cm
Method of acquisition: Given (1991-01-21) by Robert and Elizabeth Hirsch Collection
George III
18th Century, Late
Circa
1785
CE
-
1800
CE
Josiah Wedgwood was in partnership with his cousin Thomas Wedgwood for the manufacture of useful wares, especially creamware at his Burslem factory from 1769 until the latter's death in 1788. In 1790 he took into partnership his own sons, and his cousin, Thomas Byerley (d. 1810) and the firm became known as Wedgwood, Sons, and Byerley. Thoughout this period creamware formed a significant part of the firm's output of tableware, such as breakfast and dinner services. Pierced ceramic drainers, which fitted on top of large serving dishes, so that the juices of fish or meat could drain, were difficult to make, and undamaged specimens from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century are rare. They were sometimes described as 'fish-plates, or when made of pewter, or silver, as mazarines. For other creamare items decorated with 'Purple Vine', pattern,see the Documentation, Reilly, 1989, I, p. 292, pls. 350-52, a mug, a jug, and a mug, in the City Museum and Art Gallery, Hanley, which he dated to c. 1785-90.
Decoration composed of enamels ( purple, two shades of green, and brown)
cream
Earthenware
Lead-glaze
Moulding
: Cream-coloured earthenware, pierced, lead-glazed, and painted in purple, two shades of green, and brown enamel-colours
Piercing
Lead-glazing
Inscription present: Circular label printed in black. 'ROBERT & ELIZABETH HIRSCH . COLLECTION' reserved in a black border, surrounding in left top quarter 'R/No 18' over grapes, and in the right top quarter, 'E/No 17' over two fish, with a border of dots and short lines round the lower half.
Accession number: C.6-1991
Primary reference Number: 11795
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Dish drainer" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/11795 Accessed: 2025-03-31 03:38:18
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/11795
|title=Dish drainer
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-03-31 03:38:18|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-11795
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa6/C_6_1991.jpg"
alt="Dish drainer"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Dish drainer</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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