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Vase: C.56-2023

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Pottery: William De Morgan & Co. (Possibly)

Entities

Categories

Description

Earthenware bottle vase,slip coated and painted underglaze in blue, turquoise, and two shades of olive-green; on the lower part, stylized flowers and foliage, and on the neck, scale pattern in dark blue and turquoise. Underside flat and undecorated.

Notes

History note: Lent by Rita Smythe

Legal notes

Bequeathed by Ian and Rita Smythe, 2023

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 14.1 cm
Height: 26.1 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Fulham ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (2023) by Smythe, Ian and Rita

Dating

19th Century, Late-20th Century, Early#
Circa 1882 CE - 1908 CE

Note

The decoration on this vase is a variant of the rose design frequently found on De Morgan tiles.

William Frend De Morgan (1839-1917), now widely regarded as the most important ceramicist of the Arts & Crafts movement, also worked in stained glass and became a successful novelist. The son of a non-conformist mathematics professor, he became a close friend of William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones and married the Pre-Raphaelite painter Evelyn Pickering (1855-1919), in 1887. As a ceramicist, De Morgan was primarily a designer/decorator and chemist, working on bought-in blanks or pots thrown to his design. He experimented widely with techniques and glazes, re-discovering methods for making and applying lustres and the colours of Persian and Iznik pottery and using them for a range of complex fantasy designs featuring ships, birds, flora and animals. De Morgan was based at Merton Abbey (next door to Morris’s factory) from 1882-8. From 1888-98 he set up at Sands End, Fulham, in partnership with the architect Halsey Ricardo (1854-1928), continuing from 1898-1907 with his kiln-master Frank Iles and decorators Charles and Fred Passenger as his partners.

School or Style

Arts and Crafts (movement)

Components of the work

Visible Surfaces composed of glaze ( clear) slip ( thin wash)
Decoration

Materials used in production

Earthenware

Techniques used in production

Throwing

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.56-2023
Primary reference Number: 226593
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Tuesday 12 March 2019 Updated: Wednesday 30 August 2023 Last processed: Wednesday 13 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Vase" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/226593 Accessed: 2024-11-21 20:20:41

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/226593 |title=Vase |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-21 20:20:41|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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