A selection of Zangzhou pieces, either from the Binh Thuan wreck (1608) or of the exact type recovered from it in 2002.
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….
Fragile onlgaze colours on Zangzhou porcelain – the bowls at the back were once decorated like the rare example in the foreground, all from the Binh Thuan Shipwreck (1608), but seawater wears it off…. the example at the right has never been under the sea.
Sharp pebbles on the base of Zangzhou wares were to stop it sticking to the kiln during firing. Very dangerous on polished surfaces!
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!
There are two pottery jugs in this week’s ‘Fresh’, sourced from the same amazing collection of early 19th Century pottery & porcelain as all the similar pieces we have released recently. Our research team had been working overtime (thanks John!) and poured through every book in the library to help identify the vast number of items that have come in.
This jug has a very similar example illustrated in the book ‘British Jugs’, marked for a Staffordshire company called Goodwin. Bridgewood & Harris. Case closed, maker identified…? not so fast!
There’s another example, in our collection, which bears an uncanny resemblance, although in porcelain rather than in pottery. Many manufacturers made the same shape in both bodies, the pottery being much cheaper to make, and therefore to sell, than the porcelain. This other example is from the small firm of Machin & Potts, which has until recently had very little documentation. Fortunately two collectors, Bill Thom and Phillip Miller, spent a good deal of time collecting and researching the firm, and published the definitive book in 2008. This exact same porcelain jug is in the book, identified by the unique dedication to a certain ‘R.W. KIRKBY of THRENTHAM HALL’.
Machin and Potts mark
This leads to an interesting detective trail of identification, involving a ladder, a beehive, a basket, several farm implements and a hen & rooster!
In the above image, you see the first clue; the porcelain jug. The illustration above reveals it to be the exact same piece of marked Machin. Below this (hidden by our jug) is another example with a pattern no. that conforms with known Machin teawares. You can see the tip of the handle though the handle-hole of our jug – it is an exact version of the smaller jug we have, shown to the right in the above photo. This jug has the amazing ‘scrap’ printed decoration, and a distinct pink lustre rim – both appear on the illustrated jug, giving us a close linkage; the small jug we have is also now attributable to Machin.
Then comes the ‘big one’ – the large jug with ‘scrap’ decoration. Its form is the ‘Dutch shape’ , a perfectly normal & popular shape that is very difficult to identify… usually. In this case, we have the prints, and a side-by-side comparison of the same items proves most interesting…. basically, they’re not just ‘similar’, they are identical, right down to the little flaws in the printing plate that have been replicated. Note- in the photos there is some distortion due to the curved surface of the jugs.
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The person who printed the smaller jug used the exact same printing plate as the larger jug, therefore most probably worked at the same factory:
Machin!
Footnote: Thom & Miller note “other makers including Goodwin, Bridgwood and Harris … made very close versions to this shape” – we trust the above identification of the prints used justifies our attribution!
An exciting find at Moorabool is this portrait silhouette of Sir John Franklin.
His name is very familiar in Tasmania; as stated on the back of this newly discovered portrait, he was Governor there 1837-43, and his name appears across the state with a town on the Huon River, and a major river which narrowly avoided being dammed, an electorate, plus his splendid statue in the middle of a fountain in Hobart.
This silhouette is a majorly important piece, being a very personal depiction for which he would have had to sit; a frontal painted portrait could be mocked up from a printed image, and often was of famous people (for example Napoleon). However, a profile must be drawn from life, and this portrait has a secret beneath the image in the form of an original ‘trade card’ for the artist; in this case, George Atkinson, ‘Profilist to His Majesty’ (George III) at no. 40 Old Steine, Brighton. What is exciting about finding the trade card is it allows us to date the piece to 1822 -1828, the years he operated out of that address.
During this time, Sir John must have visited and sat for his profile to be taken. Not for long – George Atkinson prided himself in his speed, advertising a sitting took ‘less than one minute’. One can imagine Sir John dropping in, dressed in his Navy uniform, before striding out a minute later to take the airs on the promenade at Brighton!
These portraits were the equivalent of a studio photograph today. Atkinson charged 10s 6d for a detailed profile, a not so insignificant amount. So who did he have a portrait done for – to whom was this portrait gifted?
A look at his activities 1822-28 provide the most likely answer. He was quite an active Navy officer, spending some time exploring the Arctic reaches above Canada, but still found time to marry in 1823 to a Romantic poet named Eleanor Porden. They had a child in 1824; she died in 1825. He was off on another Arctic expedition shortly after, returning to England in 1827. Was it at this time he visited Brighton, for a little R&R? Perhaps having a portrait done to give to a special friend of his late wife, Jane Griffin…. and perhaps it worked, as they were soon married, in November 1828. She was the fascinating strong-willed ‘Lady Franklin’, who came to Tasmania in 1836 and is considered by some to have been the driving force behind Franklin’s time as Governor. This portrait came from a local Victorian source, and perhaps came to Australia with The Franklins in 1836, only to be left behind in 1843 when they returned to England.
Jane Griffin, later Lady Franklin
Internationally, Franklin has recently been of increasing interest due to his exploits after he left his position in Tasmania. This interest stems from the tragedy of his final adventure, his quest for a North-West passage through the Arctic ice above the American continent, a short-cut to the Pacific ocean that would have had great consequences for trade – if it had existed at the time. Ironically, with ‘global warming’ ships have recently been able to pioneer this northern route between the oceans – but when Sir John attempted it in 1845, he found no way forward. No way back either… surrounded by thick sea ice, he and his two ships on the expedition, Erebus and Terror were stuck. They were well equipped for such an incident, but a decision was made to try and walk out; all men and their commander disappeared in the Arctic wilderness, along with the ships. They had three years worth of provisions, but once that time was up the British Admiralty offered a £20,000 reward for resolution. Expeditions were mounted, but only a few graves and cryptic clues were found; Sir John Franklin and his 128 men had perished.
The recent interest came as a result of the excited announcement from Parks Canada in 2014 – they had discovered the wreck of Erebus. Two years later, their search revealed the Terror. Both are in relatively shallow and accessible waters, and dives on them have been nothing short of sensational; the state of preservation in the low temperatures is superb.
HMS Erebus, on the seabed 2014 in this side-sonar image from the moment of discovery.
An announcement in April 2018 by the British Government has resulted in the British ‘gifting’ the remains to Canada; an exciting future awaits as plans are proposed to recover items from these incredibly important ships – indeed, perhaps even the ships themselves!
We are thrilled to have discovered this previously unknown silhouette portrait of Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin.
Today is an important one in Australia; the 25th of April 1915 was a ‘coming of age’, the first military action as an independent dominion. While the troops of the young nation didn’t achieve what they set out to do, and 8,709 didn’t return, it resulted in a sense of pride in those who did return with tales of valor and mateship. Even in the midst of the military disaster it turned out to be, a sense of being ‘Australian’ arose. Although the last of the troops who served at Gallipoli have passed on, all around Australia the younger generations gather at dawn, remembering the sacrifice and bravery of past generations.
Will Dyson ‘A Voice from Anzac’ Print 1927 -see it here>
This image by Will Dyson, the first official War Artist for Australia, illustrates the sentiment 12 years later; two soldiers in full kit sit by the sea, but are just ghosts on closer examination with the coastline visible through their bodies. The caption reads “Funny thing Bill- I keep thinking I hear men marching!” – the memories of those who didn’t return are still sharp. This cartoon appeared in the Herald on Anzac day in 1927, and proved to be so popular another print run was ordered, on better quality paper and in a limited number. These ended up in various RSL clubs around the country, and it was perhaps in one of these that the collection of signatures along the lower edge were collected. While it has Dyson’s own pencilled signature, the others are unexpected and remarkable: they are all winners of the Victoria Cross in WWI, with one exception: Lieutenant General Sir John Monash. It is an apparently unique tribute to the Gallipoli spirit, put together by soldiers who were there.
Dyson Anzac Print signatures – Will Dyson, A Jacka W Dunstan
Dyson Anzac Print signatures – J Monash, R C Grieve, G M Ingram
Will Dyson was born in 1880 near Ballarat, and was self-taught as an artist. He obtained work with various magazines as a satyrical illustrator, and became good friends with Norman Lindsay, marrying his sister Ruby. He spent the war years in England, and volunteered his skills to the Australian Imperial Forces “to interpret in a series of drawings, for national preservation, the sentiments and special Australian characteristics of our Army”. In this capacity he travelled to the Western Front in 1916, and was appointed the first official war artist in 1917. He was wounded twice as he proceeded with the troops, recording a very human side of the great conflict. He returned to Melbourne in 1925 where he worked at the Herald. During this time he produced the following print (1927) , and returned to London in 1930 where in died in 1938.
Also in the Australian War Museum is another dramatic depiction of Australian Anzac spirit, the life-size bronze ‘Simpson and his donkey’, by ‘Peter Corlett (1944 -). This work was commissioned by the Government, and installed on Anzac Day 1988 at the front of the War Memorial in Canberra. At the same time, 12 smaller versions were made & sold, and Moorabool currently has one of these.
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John Simpson Kirkpatrick was actually a British merchant sailor who jumped ship to enlisted in Fremantle, using his middle name. On the first day of his arrival at Gallipoli as a stretcher bearer, he found an abandoned donkey he named
Simpson & his Donkey Duffy
Duffy. The donkey helped Simpson carry the wounded who were still able to ride. This grainy photo was the inspiration for the legend, showing a wounded soldier being assisted by Simson down to the beach for evacuation to the hospital ships moored offshore.
We are honoured to have these reminders of the struggles that helped form Australia. I’ll finish with a group of prints that give a unique ‘Australian’ image to the warfare of WWI 100 years ago:
A fresh item to Moorabool is this quirky Ming Dynasty roof tile figure. As the name suggests, these were part of the roof decoration on Chinese buildings.
Ming Dynasty Roof Tile
Many different ‘characters’ appear as roof tile figures, each with a symbolic purpose. Our Dragon is actually a water dragon, and he would have been the chief character in a whole line of little figures down the crest of the roof junction. He was given this position due to his ‘wet’ nature: he would ensure protection from fire for the wooden building beneath.
Ming Dynasty Roof Tiles at Beijing’s Forbidden City
A similar Dragon, Forbidden City
A very familiar installation of a similar dragon is in the Forbidden City in Beijing. On the roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony (circa 1406) you will see 10 small figures (the more figures, the more important the building) – and at their top, a larger dragon – complete with the same toothy grin as our example. He’s done a good job as fire warden, protecting the structure for the past 400 years…. Scattered around the acres of other buildings in the complex are numerous other examples of the same.
Forbidden City Rooftop Dragon
What’s interesting are their intact ‘horns’, missing from ours. Examine our head and you will see the two holes they were once inserted into.
An interesting recent arrival at Moorabool is literally Magic…..
The Ethiopian Magic Scroll, 19th century or earlier
This curious artefact came from an elderly local lady, who challenged me: ‘I bet you don’t know what this is’ and was amazed at my guess of an Ethiopian magic scroll. I had never held one, but knew of them. She went on to explain how an ancestor had taken part in the Abyssinia Expedition and brought it back with him in a tin. The family had kept it as a curio; now she was the last of her family, with no-one to pass it on to.
The ancestor was a British Army captain, and was one of the 13,000 British and Indian soldiers involved in a campaign to Ethiopia in the 1860’s. Ethiopia, then known as Abyssinia, was a mythical place, the home of the Queen of Sheba from biblical days, and the mythical Prester John in the middle ages. Legend tells of a son being born from the meeting of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Menelik. Certainly Christianity spread there very early, by the 4th century AD. Their first bishop was consecrated in Alexandria, and it is the Egyptian Coptic version of Christianity which survived until the present day in the remote highlands, despite waves of Muslim settlers along the coasts.
The Abyssinia Expedition has been described as “one of the most expensive affairs of honour in history”. The honor of course was the British Empire’s. They were caught up in a difficult situation in a far-off foreign land; a local ruler, Tewodro, had sought help from the powers of the day to consolidate his power over present-day Ethiopia – in particular, he was after technology, realising that modern weapons would swiftly defeat his tribal competitors. He tried Russia, Prussia, Austria, the French, and the English. Queen Victoria sent
The Abyssinian Prisoners 1868
him a silver pistol, but no help. Disgruntled by lack of interest in his campaign, he snatched a visiting missionary; when a party set out to seek his release, they were captured as well, and imprisoned in his fortress of Magdala, deep in the Ethiopian highlands. Anyone sent to negotiate was added to his hostages, including the British consul: he ended up with dozens of prisoners.
Queen Victoria had had enough; the British Empire had been mocked! She announced the decision to rescue the hostages on 21st August 1867. While similar hostage rescues in our present age often include helicopters and quick extractions from hostile lands, for the Victorians it was a massive effort. Sir Robert Napier led the expedition, which landed in the Gulf of Zula in December 1867. Magdala was only 640km away, but it was a waterless hostile badland, and took 3 months of marching. Imagine, 13,000 soldiers with 26,000 helpers to look after them using 40,000 animals…. including 44 Indian elephants to carry the large cannon!
Once there, action was swiftly over. Tewodro’s troops caught the British by surprise on a platteau, and swarmed down from their hilltop positions; the well trained British quickly responded, with the inevitable massacre of the tribal attackers, many with just spears agains the superior British guns. A few days later they were able to bombard the fortress, blow the gates, and swiftly took over. On entering the last stronghold, they found Tewodro had taken his own life – with the silver pistol given as a gift by Queen Victoria!
The soldiers destroyed the stronghold, setting it on fire. The Christian Coptic church was looted, with large gold & silver crosses being taken along with many religious works – including scrolls such as the one we are discussing. They were regarded by the Victorians as ‘magic scrolls’, evidence of superstition and ‘whitchcraft’, and therefore worthy of a place in any Cabinet of Curios.
For the Ethiopians, they were believed to hold protective and healing powers, and were carried by the owner at all times. These were inscribed in ‘Geez’, the liturgical language of the church, with prayers, spells and/or charms which offered protection to their specific owner – to undo spells, restore health, combat sterility and even ward off demons. The text was often taken from sacred books such as Gospels and because of this, the scrolls were tolerated by the Ethiopian Church in spite of their connection to magical practices.
The process would begin with the selection and sacrifice of a particular animal. The owner would bashed in the animals’ blood as part of the process of purification. Three strips of parchment were then made from the skin of the animal and stitched together to form a single scroll equal in length to the height of its owner – ours is 135cm.
During crisis, these scrolls were carried on one’s person, and were kept close when sleeping to ensure protection. When the British Soldier acquired this 140 years ago, he protected it in a airtight tin, meaning this fascinating artefact has survived in remarkable condition.
There’s a certain style that defines the late Regency and early Victorian era, when the designers looked beyond the classically inspired Regency designs and re-visited the curves and flourishes of the Rococo. One manufacturer who excelled at this was Samuel Alcock.
He began his own production of pottery in 1828 at Cobridge, and opened another works at the Hill Top Works in Burslem, which he took over from Riley. Some time in the 1830’s he began to manufacture porcelain as well as pottery, and went on to produce a wide variety of pieces decorated by printing, painting, and elaborately applied 3d flowers.
The porcelain is a beautiful bone china mixture which is distinctive enough to be identified on its own when compared to contemporaries such as Daniels or Minton. Decoration included bold ground colours, well painted fruit & flowers, and finely detailed scenes, embellished with good gilding. Marks are rare (on porcelain in particular) but a pattern number will usually be evident. These numbers quickly increased, and a fractional pattern number was introduced, ie. 1/1234.
Samuel died in 1848, having built up a reputation as one of the better manufacturers of the Staffordshire Potteries. His firm closed the following decade.
Only on the market once before, this is a remarkable Australian Pottery rarity – probably unique. Speculated to be a special commission or present, it was last sold in the 1980’s at Christies, Melbourne.
The board is by David Boyd, and is constructed from four large tiles divided into squares ,the ends inscribed with the starting home for the various pieces. This is fired in a wonderfully mottled ‘aged’ glaze.
Boyd Pottery ‘Queens’ by Hermia Boyd, 1960’s
The pieces are the work of Hermia Boyd, and each has powerful character; even the pawns are individual in features.
They echo the famous ‘Lewis Chessmen’, which date to the Anglo-Saxon period and are on display in the British Museum. The Boyds had lived and visited on numerous occasions, and made other medieval-inspired pieces – but apparently no other chess set….
This is a very unique piece, and destined for a worthy collection of Australian Pottery – or indeed would be equally at home amongst the fine art creations of the incredibly productive Boyd family.
Lavish is the word that best describes this Flight Worcester plate. It’s from the ‘Hope’ service, ordered in 1789 by William Henry, the Duke of Clarence, who was the third son of King George III and eventual inheritor of the British throne at the age of 64 after both brothers died without heirs.
William IV
The subject was chosen by him, and reflects his military career. Each piece has a different rendition of ‘Hope’ with her anchor, with a ship in the background. He had joined the Royal Navy in his youth, serving in North America and the Caribbean under Nelson. Nicknamed the ‘Sailor King’ when he came to the throne, it is little wonder he chose this nautical theme for his service.
The Hope Service, Flight Worcester, 1790
Securing the service commission was a major event for the ailing Worcester factory, which had been purchased by John Flight in 1783. It was William’s second commission from the factory, the first being the ‘St Andrew’ service, celebrating his achievement of the Order of St Andrew, earlier in 1789.
John Flight recorded in his diary in January 1790:
‘We used our two best painters last week to make some very fine designs for the Duke of Clarence, we have already completed 3 plates and I have sent them to London. One is a gold arabesque design, another the figure of Hope, the other of Patience.’
A few days later on 24th January John Flight added:
‘Apart from the two plates mentioned… we have made two others with figures, Peace and Plenty. H.R.H. Duke of Clarence has decided on the Hope design with the decoration that we put on the Peace plate, he has ordered a table service that will amount to more than £700 sterling. He has given us a year in which to complete it…’
A plate from ‘The Hope Service’, Flight Worcester 1790, made for the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV.
It is interesting to track down some original tabloid gossip from the period:
‘Hope Service’ described in a 1791 Clarendon Post
This news article intended to impress, inflating the price and the number of pieces. The comment about it being ‘particularly appropriate to the nautical profession of the royal proprietor …’ is interesting, as William was indeed a Navy officer. His father George III had determined he should join the Royal Navy, and so he entered the navy at 13 as a midshipman. He saw active service in the War of American Independence (targeted in a kidnap plot by an agent of George Washington in New York, 1782!), and became a friend of Nelson. He was placed on the Warwick under Captain George Keith Elphinstone, and spent time in the Caribbean. In 1789 he returned to England, where his father the King’s health was failing, but although he received promotions to rear-admiral, vice-admiral, and in 1799 admiral, the navy refused his pleas for a return to active service. When he gained the throne in 1830, he was affectionately known as ‘The Sailor King’.
‘Hope Service’ described in the Derby Mercury, 1791
Another news article, in the ‘Derby Mercury’ in 1791, quotes the same inflated price – 800 Guineas (more than the £700 Flight recorded in his journal) – but gets the number of pieces right at 296. The story related of his ‘Blue-blooded Britishness’ is fantastic – if it happened. He was offered a set of ‘Avignon China’ (French porcelain of some type) he refused, saying while OTHERS may be happy with foreign products, he wouldn’t even accept a piece of furniture that wasn’t British!
The back of this plate has a large pasted label, which declares the following:
Hope Service Label
Specimen of the Celebrated Service of Old Worcester
Porcelain, made and presented to Lord Nelson by the
Nation, bequeathed by him to King William the Fourth
who gave it to his son Lord Frederick Fitzclarence
and in whose Will the full particulars are given –
It passed by marriage to the Earl of Erol and was
his up to May 1893 when it was dispersed at Christies
and realised nearly the sum of £2000.
This is of course different to what has been described at the top of this page, and is a fascinating example of mis-information. This old label provides us with the source of this mis-information, the Christies auction which dispersed the service in 1893. They of course got their information from the Earl of Erol, who had inherited it from his father, the illegitimate son of William IV, Fitzclarence. It was in this will that ‘the particulars’ were given, and so the confusion appears to have arisen right back then, just the next generation from when it was a wonderful new service that impressed the nation.
The Royal French porcelain manufactory at Sèvres was well patronized by the French court, and the pieces they created were meant to be the most flamboyant and impressive luxuries imaginable. This pink ground cup & saucer certainly qualifies.
Sevres socketed cup & saucer with birds by Chappuis, 1765
Sevres socketed cup & saucer with birds by Chappuis, 1765
Important Sèvres cup and saucer, goblet et soucoup enfoncé, premiere grandeur , superbly painted by Antoine-Joseph Chappuis (aîné), with four panels of birds in landscapes, framed within rich tooled gold borders against a ground of blue and gold oeil-de-perdrix on a pink ground.
Crossed ‘L’s’ mark,
also date letter ‘M’ for 1765,
‘cp’ for artist Antoine-Joseph Chappuis (aîné),
incised cup repairer’s mark ‘00’ & ‘ae’
Madame de Pompadour was probably responsible for the inception of this unusual form of saucer, with its deep well ensuring the cup cannot be easily upset. The form appears in 1753, and as she was failing in health with tuberculosis, a socketed saucer negated the risk of spilling her drink due to a shaking hand or coughing fit. Factory records show that all examples of this type made were purchased by her until her death in 1764. The next recorded sale was in October 1765 to Princess Louise-Marie of France, youngest daughter of Louis XV. Its present whereabouts are unrecorded, and this example has a high possibility of being the goblet et soucoup enfoncé, premiere grandeur in question.
Sevres socketed cup & saucer with birds by Chappuis, 1765
They were one-off products, and examples vary wildly in decoration. An example in the Getty Museum is thought to have belonged to Madame de Pompadour. It has a saucer with an unknown repairer’s mark (00), the same as on this cup. The gilding appears on numerous examples from this period, often with small inconsistencies such as can be seen in the above detail, where the gold doesn’t quite cover the ground.
The artist Chappuis ‘l’aîne’ was a long-term employee at Sèvres, being apprenticed as a répareur (maker) in 1756, became a painter in 1761, became the deputy ‘head of kilns’ in 1782 , andin charge of the kilns for the final year of his life in 1787.
His wonderfully vivid birds are distinct amongst the Sèvres artists repertoire, and a piece such as this importantgoblet et soucoup enfoncé, premiere grandeur show Sèvres at its best.
Provenance: The Antique Porcelain Company, NY
References:
Similar gilding canseen on a can & saucer in the British Museum, #110 in Dawson’s book ‘French Porcelain in the British Museum’, also #112.
An écoulle, cover & stand with the same decoration was sold as part of the Giuseppe Rossi collection, Sothebys London 1999 lot 518
A cup & saucer with the same ground, very similar birds by another artist, Aloncle, 1765, at Christies London 2015.
A wonderful teapot with the same unknown repairer’s mark (00), also painted by the same artist, Antoine-Joseph Chappuis (l’âiné), 1765, sold by Bonhams London in 2014.
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Then comes the ‘big one’ – 
What’s interesting are their intact ‘horns’, missing from ours. Examine our head and you will see the two holes they were once inserted into.
The Abyssinia Expedition has been described as “one of the most expensive affairs of honour in history”. The honor of course was the British Empire’s. They were caught up in a difficult situation in a far-off foreign land; a local ruler, Tewodro, had sought help from the powers of the day to consolidate his power over present-day Ethiopia – in particular, he was after technology, realising that modern weapons would swiftly defeat his tribal competitors. He tried Russia, Prussia, Austria, the French, and the English. Queen Victoria sent
