W J Wadham

British born, the Wadham brothers William Joseph and Alfred Sinclair were the sons of a notable deaf & dumb painter, Benjamin Brassett Wadham (1816-1904) who was himself the son of a notable artist.
(A third brother, Benjamin T, is also mentioned in the 1894 ‘Adelaide Observer’ report below as an artist, but he didn’t come to Australia).
W.J. had his first painting accepted by the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, aged 14. He migrated to Australia in 1885 – his brother followed in 1887. They had exhibitions in Melbourne in 1889 and 1895, which were well received. They settled in Adelaide, joining the South Australian Society of Arts.
They ran “Wadham & Sinclair’s Fine Art Institute” in Adelaide where they also gave lessons; travelling extensively, they were in New Zealand in 1896, Western Australia in 1897. Alfred returned to London in that year, and also in 1897 their works were well received at the London Exhibition of Dominion Art, attended by the Prince of Wales.
Joseph continued to travel, visiting & painting in South Africa and Canada as well as New Zealand and Australia. He helped found the Royal British Society of Artists which held their first exhibition in 1902. In latter years, he opened a commercial Art Gallery in Sydney, selling notable British artists including Birket Foster, Lord Leighton, Moreland, Wilkie, and the Pre-Raphaelite master, Sir John Millais.
He sold up the Gallery & moved back to England in 1923.

William B. Thomas

William Barton Thomas

Born in Boston, Lincolnshire, in 1877, William B. Thomas lived there his whole life. His name is not widely known outside his home county, due no doubt to his lack of apparent interest in exhibiting and promoting his work. That he has natural talent is very obvious examining his works; landscapes around Lincolnshire are depicted in a wonderfully ethereal manner, almost solely in watercolour. He understood light, and how to depict the effects of low-light in dusk and clouded scenes. His lightness of touch creates atmospheric, dream-like images which still have well-defined locations identifiable.

His works are well represented in British collections, in particular in Lincolnshire.

Zaccagnini – Italian pottery manufactory, 1905-1960’s

Zaccagnini was an Italian pottery manufactory, manufacturing 1905-1960’s in Florence.

Originally making historical Della-Robia majolica type pieces in the Renaissance manner, they moved on to become forerunners in the ‘Hollywood Regency’ style. Their design success led to a thriving export market.

A 1928 move to a hilltop factory led to the use of the ‘Z’ mark intersected by a curve of a hill.

1964 was the last major year of production.

Zangzhou porcelain is a Ming Dynasty export ware.

Zangzhou (Changchow) is a major production centre for this type of distinct porcelain body, and appears to have been focused on the export market to South-East Asia in the 16th-17th century. Older literature discusses them as ‘Swatow’ or ‘Provincial’ Ming, but excavations in the 1950’s in Fujian Provence located numerous ceramic production centres, with Zangzhou on the Jiulong River giving the name to this category of ceramics.

The wares are varied, with blue & white, celadon, and polychrome enamels all appearing. The best way to examine the product is through the Binh Thuan Shipwreck, which was filled with tens of thousands of pieces from this source. This ship went down in circa 1608, and contained a large number of blue & white pieces, as well as enamelled wares and pieces with blue underglaze and enamelled colours overglaze. This rarely survives in good condition as it is vulnerable to wear, especially in the context of a shipwreck….

One way to recognise this product is through the firing technique; dishes & bowls were placed onto rough granitic sand, which allowed the pot to be safely removed from the kiln without sticking. In the shipwreck examples, this still survives in its original extent; in pieces that made it to market, this has been carefully removed prior to sale as it is extremely sharp!