It’s always rewarding to discover something that has not been identified before. In the British Ceramics world, this is possible even in Australia….
This curious figure turned up in Melbourne recently, and is obviously a depiction of Dr Syntax, a creation of the British writer William Combe which led to a series of books describing his bumbling catastrophical travels. They were illustrated by the contemporary illustrator Rowlandson, beginning in 1812 with ‘The Tour of Dr Syntax in Search of the Picturesque’. From the illustrations in these books, the Derby factory created a series of humorous small-scale figures. Moorabool had one example a few years ago.
left: the figure in front of an illustration from an 1820’s Dr Syntax publication . –> see more
These are well documented by the late Bradbury in his definitive work ‘Derby Figures’. The problem is, some figures had not been recorded in Britain, and these are referred to in the publication as ‘Unknown to the Author’.
We’ve found two of these ‘Unknown’ figures in the past in Australia: could this be the third?
A look through the list finds items G11-24 are all Dr Syntax, and three are listed as ‘unknown to author’. Of these the only likely candidate is No. 13: ‘Dr Syntax Crossing a Lake’.
Looking at our figure, we believe it is a perfect candidate for the missing No. 13, as he steps off a rocky shore into a lake – apparently too distracted by the picturesque surroundings to notice!
We are always fascinated by the origins of things…. when and where did it all begin?
In the porcelain world, it was of course China, around 1,000 years ago. This was so foreign and magical to the Europeans that pieces which made the perilous journey across the globe were only affordable by the most wealthy, being far more valuable than gold.
This all changed as the lure of such riches led to experimentation, and the first instance of a European porcelain body appears in the Medici courts in the 16th century, bankrolled by Francesco I; today, only 70 pieces have been identified, and the enterprise was a dead-end.
An example of Rouen Porcelain in the Sevres Museum.
The next successful production appears in France. In Rouen, a pottery industry had for many years been producing Faience – earthenware pieces with a white tin-glaze, as an imitation of a white porcelain body. They developed a distinct design, known as a ‘Lambrequin’ – a border with repetitive symmetrical floral elements, borrowed from Baroque designs often seen in embroideries, metalworks, and related artistic products. In 1673, a privilege to make porcelain was granted to Louis Poterat, and he seems to have experimented without a viable production of commercial scale resulting – only a possible dozen Rouen porcelain pieces have ever been identified. A 1702 comment in the petition from the next factory mentioned described the Rouen effort at porcelain manufacturing as this:
“…..(they) did nothing more than approach the secret, and never brought it to the perfection these petitioners have acquired”.
-1703 Saint Cloud Royal Petition
A French Faience (tin-glazed earthenware) charger from the late 17th century, showing the distinct ‘Lambrequin’ borders seen on Saint Cloud porcelain products. The designs are ‘le style de Berain’, taken from the 17th century designs of Berain, who was influenced by earlier Baroque designs which had borrowed heavily from Roman wall paintings! This example in the Rosenberg Collection, Geelong, is probably Moustiers (Clerissy workshop), but is typical of the type made at Rouen during the period discussed.
The first commercially successful porcelain manufacturer is the factory at Saint Cloud. This manufactury, like Rouen, began as a faience producer. A 1664 ‘Royal Privilege’ was given to a Parisian merchant named Claude Révérend, ‘..to produce faience and to imitate porcelain in the manner of the Indies (China) ‘ As a merchant, he was importing faience from Holland, and would have been very familiar with the superior Chinese porcelains. He selected a manufacturing base, and in 1666 set out to make faience products – in the manner of Rouen – on the outskirts of Paris, at Saint-Cloud. Within a few months, Claude Révérend had passed ownership to his brother, Francois Révérend. He had actually lived for many years in Rouen, and it is no surprise that these first products of Saint Cloud faience are very close to Rouen products.
Three examples of Saint-Cloud porcelain currently in stock at Moorabool – links below.
An artist employed at this time to paint the tin-glazed faience wares named Pierre Chicaneau is the important character in the development of the first commercial porcelain production in Europe. He is possibly from Rouen, and George Savage speculated in his 1960 “Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century French Porcelain” that he may have been exposed to the porcelain experiments while there. He begins at Saint Cloud in the 1660’s, and in 1674 he was made the firm’s director. He died in 1677, and it is the documents provided by his widow’s petition to the King for a Royal Privilege to make porcelain that gives us the full story of what was happening in Saint Cloud through the late 1660’s and early 1670’s; active pursuit of the secret of making porcelain. His widow wrote in the 1700 petition
“Pierre Chicaneau, having applied himself for many years to the making of faience and having arrived at a very high level of perfection in this work, wanted to push his knowledge still further and find the secret of making true porcelain; for this purpose he undertook several experiments with different materials and tried different finishing techniques, which resulted in works that were almost as perfect as the porcelain of China and the Indes”
-1700 Saint Cloud Royal petition by the Chicaneau family
They go on to state the first success – a repeatable, commercial prospect that allowed manufacturing of the product – was achieved by the firm around 1693. Dr Martin Lister, physician to Queen Anne in England and prolific writer, visited the works in 1698, writing;
“I saw the potterie of St Clou with which I was marvellously well pleased, for I confess I could not distinguish betwixt the pots made there and the finest China ware I ever saw. It will, I know, be easily granted me that the painting may be better designed and finished because our men are far better masters of that art than the Chineses; but the glazing came not the least behind theirs, not for whiteness, nor the smoothness for running without bubbles. Again, the inward substance and matter of the pots was, to me, the very same, hard and firm as marble, and the self same grain on this side vitrification. Farther, the transparency of the pots the very same.”
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Examples of Saint Cloud in Moorabool’s current stock – click for more
Moorabool is pleased to offer a piece of this earliest commercial production from what can be seen as the first European Porcelain Manufacturer*. Our piece was a necessity on the elegant tables of the time, where salt was an important – and expensive – commodity that enhanced the dining experience. It was also a status symbol, as while the Crown imposed a tax on salt (la gabelle), exemption was made for the privileged Nobles and Clergy.
Saint Cloud Salt circa 1700
Several of these open salts would have been scattered down the table amongst diners. There are metal examples of the same form, and clearly the porcelain copies them.
Moustiers Faience Lambrequin border from the dish illustrated previously.
The decoration is classic Saint-Cloud, with a repeating pattern of lambrequin motifs in underglaze blue. Such decoration appears on the full range of Saint-Cloud shapes, such as cups & saucers, cosmetic jars, and even eggcups. Comparing the patterns on ours with other examples is fascinating, as it appears the artist was not faithful to any specific design – there are endless slight variations regarding the location of the various leaves, flowerheads, and the symmetrical tendrils that define them.
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The ‘Sun’ mark is the earliest Saint-Cloud mark, and refers to the most important patron in France – Louis XIV, the ‘Sun King’. The factory location at Saint-Cloud was chosen because of the King’s younger brother, Duc d’Orleans, had an estate there, and became a patron of the fledgling factory. Louis XIV died in 1715, and the mark would most probably not have been used after that date; the more usual ‘St C’ begins during the second decade of the 18th century, and is identifiable as being post- 1722 by the addition of a ‘T’ beneath, indicating the change of Director to Henri Trou in that year. They continued making similar porcelain wares throughout the 1730’s-40’s, and finally closed in 1766.
Saint Cloud ‘Sun King’ mark on our salt, 1693-1722.The standard Saint-Cloud mark, including the ‘T’ for Trou. The second example (Rosenberg Collection, Geelong) has an extra ‘h’, a painter’s mark. Not all Saint Cloud pieces are marked – and some have ‘painters marks’, usually an alphabet letter. This selection in Moorabool stock, or in the Rosenberg Collection.
Other examples can be seen various museum collections around the globe; the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris has 5 examples, of which 2 have the ‘Sun’ mark and are dated 1697-1700, while the other three are unmarked and catalogued “Saint Cloud or Paris”, post-1700 (reflecting the other porcelain manufactories in Paris who copied Saint Cloud in the early 18th century). In 1997, the collection catalogue (Christine Lahaussois) suggests a date of 1697-1700. In 1999, the catalogue for a NY exhibition (“Discovering the Secrets of Soft-Paste Porcelain at The Saint-Cloud Manufactory”, editor Bertrand Rondot) illustrates three of the same examples as definite Saint-Cloud, and dates them all post-1700, with the closest to our example (including a Sun mark) being 1700-1715.
George Savage “Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century French Porcelain” 1960
Bertrand Rondot (editor) “Discovering the Secrets of Soft-Paste Porcelain at The Saint-Cloud Manufactory” 1999
Aileen Dawson “French Porcelain -a catalogue of the British Museum Collection” 1994
Christine Lahaussois “Porcelaines de Saint-Cloud, La collection du Musee des Arts Décoratifs” 1997
*I should note; when I use the term ‘Porcelain’ in this article, it is best described as ‘Artificial Porcelain’, meaning it was not the same as the Chinese products, as it lacked one of the main ‘stiffening’ ingredients. This is commonly called ‘Soft-Paste’, and defined the earliest French and English products. True Porcelain, in the Chinese manner, was produced by the Chinese from around the Song Dynasty (900 AD), and in Europe, the experiments at Dresden (and subsequent production at Meissen) were by chance identical in their basic ingredients, and this product is known as ‘Hard Paste’.
There is also a ‘Soft-Paste’ twist, with some fascinating experimental products appearing in England in the latter 17th century, possibly pre-dating the French efforts. John Dwight of Fulham was awarded a patent for porcelain in 1671, and may well have been successful – but not commercially!
A part Victorian tea service in today’s Fresh Stock has an interesting tale to tell.
A glance at the mark suggests two possibilities: ‘Dresden’, ie made in the German city famous for the Meissen works, and ‘Worcester’. It’s neither!
The printed mark is typical of Staffordshire makers in the mid 19th century, and describes the pattern; a wreath of flowers in the Dresden style. They often had their name directly below such a mark, and indeed here we see 293 ‘Worcester’ written here.
But something’s not right: this is unlike any Worcester products, being printed and painted in quite a loose manner, and on porcelain which isn’t the usual pristine Worcester bone china…. closer investigation reveals a very interesting feature: the ‘Worcester’ is hand-painted over a printed name! Careful study reveals ‘G. F. Bowers & Co’ to be the carefully concealed maker’s name.
George Frederick Bowers & Co. were a Staffordshire porcelain maker from 1842-68, a perfect date for this type of teawares & decoration. But how did ‘Worcester’ come to blot out their name? It seems unlikely that Bowers workers would do such a thing as the name was an important part of advertising, allowing a household to order replacements from the right firm. This appears to be a case of Porcelain Fraud: as Worcester was well-known and expensive, the logic conclusion is that a retailer has added the mark fraudulently in order to pass it off to an unsuspecting customer as ‘Worcester’!
John Rosenberg with his first ‘Antique’ – a Staffordshire spill, purchased around 1950!
With sadness we note the passing of John Rosenberg, founder of Moorabool Antiques, after a short illness on Friday 19th June.
He went to his first auction aged 7, with his Grandmother. This was at ‘Kerleys Auctions’, Geelong; Aged 80, he was still buying, and went along to Kerley’s last-ever Auction before they closed down early 2020. This was also to be his last auction, as the sudden appearance of cancer took his strength.
We’ll have much more to share on this in the near future; if you have any memories of John (which we could share, anonymously) please feel free to email them to Paul.
A regular feature at our Antique Fairs!
He was dearly loved by many, a thorough gentleman of the old-school type, and passionate his whole lifetime about his chosen profession, Antiques. This passion radiated from him, and was catching to those fortunate enough to spend time in conversation with him!
What a month….. we’re sorry to have been ‘away’ for the past 6 weeks, and no doubt the ‘C’-crisis is a glaringly obvious reason, as the world is paralysed by the hidden menace of the virus pandemic.
But the real reason is the other ‘C’: Cancer. John Rosenberg, founder of the firm back in the 1950’s, was taken to Hospital quite unwell in late March, and cancer was found. He has undergone major surgery – the result is that the doctors were satisfied they got it all. This is a great relief to us all.
Needless to say, this ensured our attention was no longer on our ‘Fresh Stock’ updates – and the timing with the required shop closure due to covid-19 was remarkable. John is now back home and is recovering well – but is of course itching to get back to the shop!
John recovering back at home this week.
We have just instigated our ‘Recovery’ plan, representing both our post-Covid and John’s new reality, both of which require ‘social distancing’….. so we now have an Appointments booking service on our website. When you are thinking of visiting Moorabool, simply pop into our web page and with a few clicks you can find a time, weekdays 10-4, plus a few hours on a Saturday. This will allow us to comply with the strict requirements for businesses to stay social-distancing aware. John also has his own appointment page, with a Wednesday afternoon time-slot for anyone who would like to catch up. He’ll be up in the Lorraine Rosenberg Reference Library, a great place to experience his passion for ceramics…. so many tales to tell!
Our ‘Fresh Stock Tuesdays’ were constant weekly tasks for the past 6 years…. and while we are most certainly not ceasing the release of fresh stock, it’s time for a change to this method. We will shortly have ‘Something Fresh’ to share….
A young John Rosenberg, back in the 1950’s when he joined the Dealers Association.
We were of course heading into our 2020 Fair time, to open May 1st in the Malvern Town Hall. This is postponed until the same time next year, but was to be a special occasion for Moorabool: a young John Rosenberg joined the Victorian Antique Dealers Association (now the AAADA) in 1958, the year they held their first Fair in the Malvern Town Hall. It had been born the previous year, and young John was asked to join by a local ‘founding member’. He was able to exhibit in the 1959 Malvern Fair for the first time – and continued to do so for the next 59 years straight! 2019 would have been the 60th Melbourne Dealers Fair Moorabool had exhibited in, but was cancelled. This year, 2020, was then to be the 60th….. now we look forward to making 2021 that milestone!
The late Lorraine Rosenberg, pictured at the Dealers Fair in the Malvern Town Hall, some time in the 1960’s.
We had great plans…. our stand was going to ‘pop’, with a unique design celebrating 60 years, and some stunning Fresh pieces sourced just for the occasion. Instead, these will be released as part of our ‘SOMETHING FRESH’ over the next few months.
We hope you’re all keeping well, and that our website has been a source of consolation in these peculiar times….
Best wishes & stay safe, from Paul Rosenberg, John Rosenberg, & all @ Moorabool…. …. still very much in business !
We’ll leave you with a ‘Fresh’ photo- this is a wonderfully wild ‘ShiShi’ , the Japanese version of the the Chinese Buddhist lion-dog, or ‘Foo’ dog. He’s a censor, his head lifting off to take the incense – with the smoke coming out his mouth, nostrils, ears, and between the spines down his back! Meiji period, earlier 19th century. Coming to Moorabool stock shortly!
A Japanese porcelain ‘ShiShi’ censor, Meiji period, earlier 19th century – coming soon!
In light of the current situation gripping the World…. Moorabool is closing our physical shopfront and concentrating on this website.
Moorabool wishes all customers the best of health, and please take care out there. We are still functioning behind the scenes, manning our website, and our postal system will continue, although naturally not as quick as usual. If you are buying/selling, we are available by email, facetime, or telephone; our website is monitored, so please feel free to continue on as ‘usual’ as possible in this rapidly changing world….
As soon as we are ‘free’ of this invisible menace, we will have some exciting events to promote – having used all this down-time to prepare!
Sincere best wishes, from John Rosenberg, Paul Rosenberg, Alard Pett, Lindsay Wilson, and all @ Moorabool Antiques, Geelong.
Staffordshire figures of the 1860’s including Florence Nightingale (and a German porcelain Turk!)
Illustrated here is Florence Nightingale & friends practicing ‘Social Distancing’ …. She was of course responsible (in the 1850’s) for the very first idea of how to contain a disease as it spread…. she would approve whole-heartedly of the incredible response our Governments are undertaking to tackle this age-defining catastrophe that is currently unfolding….
Moorabool is often a place of meeting, both for people who enjoy Antiques – and for the Antiques themselves! We have occasionally been guilty of ‘match-making’ in the Antique world, discovering pieces that were quite literally made to be together…. but somehow became separated. It’s a thrill to re-unite pieces.
Ready for the harvest…..?
In today’s ‘Premium Fresh’ there is a rather sweet Vienna figure of a lady. Very early, she is circa 1755, and her costume is very distinct – very well dressed – and yet she carries a sickle and bundle of wheat. There’s more wheat behind her waiting to be cut; clearly she is a ‘Harvester’ off to sickle the wheat crop – but take a look at her shoes! How would they be practical in the fields…?
Vienna figure c.1755 Fresh to Moorabool’s stock
Vienna ‘Lady with Squirrel’ c.1755
While today we tend to place these lovely pieces in cabinets or a mantel shelf, in the 1750’s in Europe they were intended for the table. A scene would be set up along the length of a grand table, to entertain the guests with depictions of the gods, the Greek myths, a hunt, or in the case of a group of one group of interesting Vienna figures, “Pastoral Pursuits’.
The definitive book on these early figures helps us understand their purpose. ‘Ceremonies Feasts Costumes : Viennese Porcelain Figures during the reign of Maria Theresia’ is a splendid 2007 publication with large clear illustrations, detailing hundreds of Vienna figures from the 1740’s until the 1780’s. A private businessman, Du Paquier, had started the porcelain works in Vienna as early as 1719 ( making it the second true porcelain manufacturer in Europe, after Meissen), but by 1744 he was financially struggling, and the Viennese State purchased the works. This was of course ruled by Maria Theresia, the Empress of Austria, and she loved a good party… the porcelain works were an excellent source of the needed table wares, and this included table figures.
Vienna ‘Pastoral Pursuits’ figures, 1755-60
We find a series of well-dressed ladies & gents going about various occupations such as picking grapes, making wine, collecting milk…. and our lovely lady harvesting wheat. They’re an example of the idealisation and romantic notion that prevailed in the courts of 18th century Europe that the peasant lifestyle was an idyllic, carefree one. France of course excelled in this – think Mary Antionette and her role-playing as a milkmaid – and other courts tended to follow the fashions of France. Dinner parties could have an ‘Arcadian’ theme, meaning everyone would be dressed as a ‘commoner’ of some sort, but in silk and satin instead of the rough cotton the authentic garb would have been made of! These fancy-dress banquets had a curious way of dispersing the guests along the table – a lottery game would decide – giving the evening a sparkle of uncertainty in what was otherwise a very formalised environment.
A Vienna Porcelain ‘Shepherd’s House’, circa 1755
Some rare survivors are model buildings for a table setting – also recorded in parallel in Meissen productions – suggesting the appearance of the table, with this banquet’s theme being Wirtschaft, meaning ‘Economy’ or ‘Workplace’ . This is the perfect fit for our lovely lady with the sickle. She’s actually a Princess, pretending to be a Harvester for the evening…..!
While exploring this fascinating topic, I came across a colourful ‘Cavalier as reaper’ group illustrated in the before mentioned book. Our lovely lass isn’t illustrated, but a comparison with the ‘Cavalier’ figure leads us to an exciting conclusion: this is surely a long-lost partner figure.
Introducing…. Vienna ‘Cavalier & Companion as Reapers’ , circa 1755
Moorabool Antiques 2020
Together at last… virtually, thanks to Photoshop!
Reunion…. the figure on the left is Vienna, circa 1755-60, in stock at Moorabool. To the right is a ‘Harvester’ circa 1755-60, illustrated in ‘Ceremonies Feasts Costumes : Viennese Porcelain Figures during the reign of Maria Theresia’ (Appendix #2) from the Umeleckoprumyslové Museum, Prague {86.269} . The two share numerous similarities, including size, decorative ’embroidery’ moulding to the clothing – and even the same shoes! – the only difference being the Prague figure is painted, the Moorabool left white. Their complementing poses and similar detailing lead us to propose they were originally conceived as a pair.
A fascinating fresh item at Moorabool is this tinglaze plaque – inscribed & dated ‘Della Vittoria / 1619’. It depicts a Madonna and Child, with her arm supporting a spear/staff from which flutters a banner with a cross.
A depiction of a crowned Madonna & Child, set in a wall in the village of Sommana, north of Naples.
These plaques are a common sight in the Mediterranean countries, in shrines on country roads and on building facades in the towns. Private houses have them inside their walls as a sort of ‘private chapel’. Some where no doubt painted in oils, but the tinglaze pottery panels were the perfect medium for exterior display. They have lasted exposed to the elements for hundreds of years, the clay strong & well fired and the pigments unfading.
A typical Italian roadside shrine with a Madonna image.
Their purpose was a simple dedication of faith. Roadside shrines generally appear at a place of spiritual significance for the locals, and a colourful plaque would act as a vivid reminder of that significance to all who passed. Some are public declarations of perceived miracles, a thank-you for the protection from some tragedy.
In Deruta, the city of potters, the various churches and chapels are full of these plaques, commissioned and dedicated by individuals who were keen to record their own miracles and faith; there’s a builder falling from a building, a horse tipping upside down and throwing his rider, and updated versions incorporating cars crashing!
In Castelli, the Church of San Donato has a roof of dedication plaques from the early 17th century
A unique ceiling filled with tile panels can be seen in the Church of San Donato, Castelli, with a vast variety beginning with many dated examples in the early 17th century. It is in this context our example was made; being dated is a great start, but where was it made – and why?
This title is interesting: ‘Della Vittoria’ translates as ‘Our Lady of Victories’, a title given to the Madonna in the context of a military victory. This image of Mary militarised is quite a rarity – she’s usually shown very differently, a merciful mother rather than a militant one.
The inscription on our plaque; the lower left corner is a restoration, with just the edge of the D surviving; the space at far left may have contained an ‘M’ as an abbreviation of ‘Madonna’.
The famous ‘Madonna della Vittoria’ by Andrea Mantegna, 1495-6, originally in Mantua Italy, but ‘borrowed’ by Napoleon on his rampage in 1797 and never given back….. now in the Louvre, Paris.
Interestingly, ‘Madonna della Vittoria’ is the title of a fabulous work by Andrea Mantegna, now in the Louvre. This was commissioned by Francesco II Gonzaga, the ruler of the city of Mantua and the leader of the Italian League’s resistance to Charles VIII of France’s incursion into Italy in the late 16th century. He had fought to a stand-still victory at the battle of Fornovo in July 1495; one year later, the newly commissioned painting by the court artist Mantegna was carried into the newly built Santa Maria della Vittoria, commemorating Mary’s help in the historic victory. It now hangs in the Louvre, having been souvenired by Napoleon during his domination of Italy in the late 18th century!
Following this train of thought, the plaque in question was perhaps another celebration of a victory; however, while 1619 is within the timeframe of the ’30 years war’, (1618-48) the first decade was a series of conflicts in Northern Europe, not relating to Italy. The plaque is therefore best described as a dedication or shrine image, rather than an example commemorating an event – the date 1619 being the year of dedication.
The inspiration for the unusual image is one of two things; either a creation of an unknown artist on the pottery workshop, direct from his imagination – or perhaps it is a copy of an elegant work depicting a militaristic Madonna which has not survived the tides of war that have swept over Europe ever since this plaque’s creation in 1619; rather ironic!
They are both tinglaze- but did you know there is a difference between ‘Delft’ and ‘delft’…. ?
‘Tinglaze’ describes the pottery products with a thick lead glaze containing an opaque white made from the oxide of tin. The result is the body of coarse buff-coloured pottery is covered with a pleasing glossy white, similar to porcelain. When decorated with colours, the results could be spectacular – but unlike the enamels on porcelain, the colours on tinglaze embed themselves into the thick tin oxide /lead glaze, giving them a distinct appearance we sometimes refer to as ‘inglaze’. This is a quick, single-pass process, as the colours soak into the chalk-like surface, with no room for correction; this is the basis for the ‘painterly’ spontaneous style seen in the decoration of tinglaze Delftwares. The above print shows the glazing process, with a pile of biscuit-fired plates being dipped into a huge vat of lead & tin oxide glaze…. off to the right the men are probably putting decoration onto the results. From here it would go into a kiln for a second time, fixing the glaze and the decoration into a glass-like surface over the pottery body – often very obvious in an antique piece as it is prone to chipping and revealing the body beneath. Illustration from a 1794 Dutch publication on trades by Gerrit Paape.
The blue & white decorated pottery with tinglaze surface is a familiar sight in the Antiques world, instantly recognisable as ‘Delft’. This name comes from the city in Holland where vast quantities were made and exported from the 17th century.
Dutch Delft vases, once display pieces in groups like this; Circa 1730-60. see them here >>
One of the export markets was England. The fashion in England for the blue & white had been well established by the importing of Chinese porcelains, and this is obvious when you look at the styles produced; some are direct copies of Chinese patterns.
Left is English Pottery, right is Chinese Porcelain, all mid 18th century
Left is English Pottery, right is Chinese Porcelain, all mid 18th century
But England of course already had a long history of pottery manufacturing, with ample clay to make their own. While the imported Dutch Delft was a less expensive option to imported Chinese Porcelain, it was only natural that the enterprising English potters imitated the Dutch, and produced their own tin-glazed pottery.
Attribution is difficult at times – we find a number of manufacturers which are virtually impossible to separate – the esteemed Victoria & Albert Museum in London itself constantly describes pieces as ‘London or Bristol’….. We can’t just go by the decoration, as movement of artists to different firms is well documented – including to & from from Holland. The body can be a help – although once again, there is much trade in clays both in England and even across the channel! At times, an attribution can only be made to a country: English or Dutch? And this leads to a problem, with the name ‘Delft’ describing a pottery type, not an origin. The main division needed is the Dutch from the English, and so a subtle method has been devised:
We us ‘Delft’ with a capital D for Dutch – and ‘delft’ in lowercase for English products!
1695 ‘Queen Mary’ Dutch Delft charger in the Rosenberg Reference Collection, Geelong.
Of course England not only imported Dutch Delft – they imported their new King & Queen with the regents William & Mary (1689-1702). These Dutch monarchs brought with them close connections with Holland, and it is no coincidence that the English delft productions start appearing in volume in this late 17th century period. This was a time of great prosperity for the English, and while the Continent had Holland to supply their tin-glaze needs, the English delft works were kept very busy supplying local needs – and found a ready market in the distant American colonies. London was an early producer, followed by Bristol, Liverpool, Belfast and Glasgow. All of these were trading ports eager for the overseas market, and English delft is often found in American archaeological sites of the period. It was written at the time that in Liverpool, ‘every merchant was concerned in a pot house made of delf’.
A late piece of English delft, this vessel is London – or Liverpool (!) – and an example can be dated to post-1800 by the name of the Soy merchant who had their name promoted on it – which also gives evidence of its usage; a soy vessel! The shape in an earlier 18th or 17th century context would be a drinking mug at a tavern. See this item here >>
Delftware found a perfect niche market in the lower-middle strata of society of the time; while Chinese porcelain was superior, it was also expensive. Local porcelain had not yet commenced, and while the Germans and French were producing porcelain from the early 18th century, it was only for those of ‘great means’ – out of reach for most people. Delft had the same look for a fraction the price. The age of English delft lasts from the late-17th century until the mid-18th, when a combination of local porcelain production (Bow, Chelsea, Worcester….) and over the next few decades, the increasing volume/decreasing price of imported Chinese porcelain reduces the demand for the cheaper local products, and all manufacturers quickly disappear by the start of the 19th century.
A rare English delft ‘Puzzle Jug’ – the puzzle being how on earth do you drink from it with those holes! (hint: there is a hole halfway down the inside of the handle visible here also…. a future blog post will explain all!) This has proven to be a difficult piece to date – the style picks up elements of 17th/early 18th century Chinoiserie pieces, and they are known from that period – but another example in the collection of Mr & Mrs Morgan, illustrated in ‘Dated English Delftware’ (Lipski & Archer 1985, p231, #108) is the same decoration, and dated 1729. A large number of English delft pieces bear dates, allowing a terrifically useful chronology to be put together. When the name of an individual, or an event commemoration is included, it also allows a place of manufacture to be established. This piece doesn’t, and so it is ‘London or Liverpool’ and circa 1730. See this item here >>
Moorabool has some superb pieces of delft – and Delft – in stock at the moment – as well as the other Continental equivalent products of Faience (France), Fayence (Germany) and Maiolica (Italy) – all basically the same soft earthenware body hidden beneath a thick glaze filled with white tin oxide… but they’re a good topic for another post!
Rarely seen, these solid silver handles are sculptural works of art. They are Dutch, date to the mid-17th century, and have a fascinating lineage we can trace back to Renaissance Italy and the collections of the Dutch master Rembrandt himself.
“Fingers were made before Forks” is an old English saying often used to justify eating with one’s fingers. It’s also the truth – for most people. When you look at the art of the middle ages, you’ll often see the peasants in a Brugel tavern scene just shoving the food in.
Detail from painting by PIETER BRUEGHEL III (1589-1634) – knives, but no forks…..
The rich, however, had an advantage: knives. These expensive accessories were a luxury item, and allowed one to keep ones fingers unsoiled while eating…. simply chop it, then stab the morsel with the pointy end, and use this handy device to get it to your mouth. Revolutionary! Even more luxurious and high-tech was the fork.
English silver handled fork, William & Mary period, circa 1695. See it here >>
St. Peter Damian, an 11th century Benedictine monk, criticized a Byzantine-born Venetian princess for her extravagance : “…such was the luxury of her habits … she deigned not to touch her food with her fingers, but would command her eunuchs to cut it up into small pieces, which she would impale on a certain golden instrument with two prongs and thus carry to her mouth.” Shocking indeed!
English Silver knife & fork, curiously by a cutler named ‘SPOON’ – circa 1700. See them here>>
A fork, when used with a knife, allowed a rhythm to eating, with both hands occupied – very civilised indeed, but only for those with the means. It wasn’t until the 18th and 19th centuries, and the age of mass production, that cutlery as we know it becomes an everyday item for all society.
Dating to the ‘privilege period’ is the collection of solid-silver handled cutlery pieces we recently discovered in a Melbourne collection. Examine the photos – when no blade is visible, they are nothing short of sculpture. Small-scale 360-degree sculptures in the Baroque manner, and obviously intended to impress. There were perfectly functional cutlery shapes, also in luxurious materials such as ivory available at the same time- but to have your knife and fork with St George slaying the Dragon on it was a whole other level…..
Moorabool’s 17th century Dutch silver ‘figural’ cutlery handles.
Their design is ancient looking, medieval or Middle Ages. The figure of ‘Charity’ could well be a Roman goddess from 2,000 years ago! So where does their design originate?
Unsurprisingly, there’s a link to the Classical world, as the Italian Renaissance artists drew much inspiration from the classical past that surrounded them. Of note here is Francesco de’Rossi, il Salviati (1510-1563), an Italian artist of great merit. His designs for luxury goods are well known due to original sketches being treasured and replicated extensively, engraved and copied and used as inspiration by artisans ever since.
Salvati’s knife handle designs of the mid-16th century, engraved by Cherubino Alberti in the early 17th century.
Rembrandt’s version of Salviati’s original, done while in his possession circa 1620
The Dutch connection comes through the fascination the Low Countries had with the Classical past. Italy was a destination for anyone seeking Culture, and back in Holland, designs seen abroad were appreciated and incorporated. Artists often did the ‘Grand Tour’, and collections contained drawings and paintings of the results. Over time, these were assimilated by artists back in Holland, even if they never went to Italy themselves….. One such artist was Rembrandt – and amongst his drawings are a remarkable series of Designs for Knife Handles. When we consider where & when he operated, we have an intriguing link to the Dutch great master – he had seen such handles, and owned some Salviati sketches of them, and created his own studies in pen & wash. This shows the great interest in these luxurious Baroque pieces from Italy – and naturally the Dutch craftsmen were able to create something to satisfy this curiosity, in the form of Ivory and Silver handles.
The series of handles we have at Moorabool are complete with their original fittings – three with knife blades and one with a fork. These are very helpful in dating the pieces. First, the fork is the early 2-prong form. This appears in the earliest examples of the 15th century, and disappears in the early 18th century.
The shape of the knife is quite distinctive, having a straight blade and a tip with a sudden taper at the end. While this is a very early Continental form, appearing in Italian pieces from the 15th century, it also appears in Dutch examples of the 17th century, before other styles take hold.
These rarities are the feature pieces of our current collection of mostly English cutlery, beginning in the 17th century and continuing into the 18th and 19th. But none have the flamboyance of these silver handles…. imagine the interesting person they must have belonged to!
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They were illustrated by the contemporary illustrator Rowlandson, beginning in 1812 with ‘The Tour of Dr Syntax in Search of the Picturesque’. From the illustrations in these books, the Derby factory created a series of humorous small-scale figures. Moorabool had one example a few years ago.
