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Silver resist lustre plate: C.1064-1928

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Object information

Current Location: Gallery 27 (Glaisher)

Titles

Silver resist lustre plate

Maker(s)

Factory: Leeds Pottery
Factory: Hartley, Greens & Co. ((alternative name))

Entities

Categories

Description

Cream earthenware, moulded and glazed, dipped in silver (platinum) lustre over resist decoration and finished with sgraffito.

Circular creamware plate with a wide rim, curved sides and flat centre, decorated over-glaze to cover the whole upper surface with a resist-lustre design on silver lustre ground. In the centre is a stylized landscape within a border of interlacing stems and leaves. Two trees, one on either side, are linked by a twining creeper and between the trees a bird flies down to a four-bar gate. The rim is encircled by a vine stem with bunches of grapes and foliage. The background is filled with fine sgraffito tendrils. The underside is glazed only. The cream surface is intensified by use of an opaque glaze.

Notes

History note: Bought from Mr V. B. Button, Lower Grosvenor Street, London SW, on 18 November 1907 for £12.10s (twelve pounds ten shillings), by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, Trinity College, Cambridge. Mr Button had bought the dish, and a pair like it, from a dealer.

Legal notes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 36.5 cm
Height: 3.7 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Leeds (Yorks.) ⪼ Yorkshire ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

19th Century, Early#
George III
Circa 1815 CE - Circa 1830 CE

Note

A pair to this plate is held by the Leeds Museum, with the trees reversed and the bird flying upward over a gate to the left (see Griffin). Dr Glaisher opted to buy just one plate, rather than pay £25 for a pair he was offered, though he notes ‘it seemed so remarkable to have a piece of resist lustre marked ‘Leeds Pottery’ that I thought the dish worth securing on any terms’.

English lustreware was commercially produced from c.1805 and popular throughout the first half of the 19th Century. Resist lustreware was typically produced by drawing, transfer printing or stencilling the design over-glaze then applying a size (perhaps a sugar and glycerine mix) to the design, with a fine brush. The pot was then coated in lustre, which only adhered to the unpainted parts. Silver lustre, made using minute deposits of platinum on a white, yellow or blue ground, was popular from around 1810-1830; and pots were sometimes coated all over to mimic Georgian silverware. Most lustreware was made for everyday use, and factory markings are rare. Staffordshire potters were the first and largest producers of lustreware, but the mark on this plate indicates it was made in Leeds, which was a significant centre for resist lustreware. It is thought that lustre was introduced at Leeds Pottery a little before its first mention in the factory’s drawing book for 'Enamell'd Tea Ware', published in 1819.

Components of the work

Decoration composed of lustre ( platinum appearing silver)

Materials used in production

cream Earthenware
opaque glaze, may contain arsenic (see Griffin) Lead-glaze

Techniques used in production

Moulding : Earthenware, moulded,glazed, dipped in lustre over resist decoration, sgraffito details.
Glazing

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: LEEDS * POTTERY
  • Location: Underside of base
  • Method of creation: Impressed
  • Type: Factory mark
  • Text: C
  • Location: On base
  • Method of creation: Impressed
  • Type: Mark

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.1064-1928
Primary reference Number: 71258
Old object number: 2740
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 15 July 2020 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) "Silver resist lustre plate" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/71258 Accessed: 2024-10-30 06:14:52

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/71258 |title=Silver resist lustre plate |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-10-30 06:14:52|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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