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The Prodigal Son (The Repast)
Factory:
Unidentified Pottery
Decorator:
unidentified enameller
Lead-glazed creamware painted in enamels with scene from the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Pale cream-coloured earthenware covered in a clear lead-glaze and painted overglaze with coloured enamels. The plate has a six-lobed wavy rim with a double moulded line around the edge. Each lobe is painted with red, yellow and blue bands around the edge and yellow scrolls, green leaves and a red cross in the centre. The scene in the middle of the plate shows the Prodigal Son seated at a table decked with a leafy garland. Upon the table are a large tureen and a wine glass. To the Son’s right is a woman reaching for a plate of fruit and to his left are three more women: one raising a wine-glass, one nibbling on some food and one sitting at the end of the table. In the foreground is a wine-cooler containing one bottle labelled ‘RUM’ and one labelled ‘MOSCELLES’. In the background are columns and arches painted to look like red-veined marble. Beneath the scene is the title: ‘THE REPAST’. Marked on the base with impressed lozenge.
History note: Provenance unidentified before Mr Stoner, London, who sold as part of set of six plates (C.1184-1928 – C.1184E-1928) for £26 on 13 January 1919 to Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge
Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest
Diameter: 25.1 cm
Height: 2.7 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
Although the plate itself is of English manufacture, the overglaze painted decoration is thought to be Dutch. The Prodigal Son scenes on the plates are a common motif on Dutch decorated English creamware, often appearing with Dutch captions rather than the English ones. Some of scenes from this set of plates appear with different English captions on three stylistically comparable plates in the Metropolitan Museum in New York (1971.180.199-201).
The lozenge mark on the plate is listed in Godden’s ‘Encyclopaedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks’ as being a workman’s mark used at the Swansea pottery c.1800-10 but Donald Towner suggests it also appears on 18th-century creamware, sometimes in conjunction with Wedgwood marks.
This plate belongs to a set of six (C.1184-1928 - C.1184E-1928) which illustrates the parable of the Prodigal Son. The scenes on the plates are derived from Richard Purcell’s prints, published in London in that early 1750s, after a series of paintings of the Prodigal Son by the French artist Sebastien le Clerc. The scene on this plate - 'The Repast' - is probably supposed to represent the end of the parable, when the father has a feast to celebrate the return and repentence of his son.
clear
Lead-glaze
cream-coloured
Earthenware
Enamels
Press-moulding
: Press-moulded cream-coloured earthenware covered in a clear lead-glaze and painted overglaze in coloured enamels
Painting overglaze
Lead-glazing
Inscription present: lozenge
Inscription present: circular, stick-on paper label with border printed in black with ‘J. W. L. GLAISHER COLLECTION’
Accession number: C.1184B-1928
Primary reference Number: 71473
Old catalogue number: 4610(3)
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 (2024) "The Prodigal Son (The Repast)" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/71473 Accessed: 2024-12-26 17:38:54
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/71473
|title=The Prodigal Son (The Repast)
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-26 17:38:54|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-71473
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/aa2/C_1184B_1928.jpg"
alt="The Prodigal Son (The Repast)"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">The Prodigal Son (The Repast)</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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