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Plate from the Darwin Service
Factory: Wedgwood & Byerley
Earthenware plate printed and painted with 'Brown Water Lily' pattern
White earthenware printed underglaze in brown, painted overglaze in pale terracotta enamel and gilt. Circular with sloping rim, shallow well and flat centre. Decorated in the centre with 'Brown Water Lily' pattern, comprising on the left, Nymphaea stellata, on the right, Nymphaea lotus, and in the middle, Nelumbium speciosum (Nelumbo nucifera). On the rim, a border of overlapping circles and a gold band.
History note: Robert Waring Darwin, FRS (1766-1848) and his wife, Susannah (née Wedgwood, d. 1817), Shrewsbury; by descent in the Darwin family to George Pember Darwin (1928-2001), by whom lent to the Fitzwilliam in 1963.
Given by George Pember Darwin
Diameter: 24.8 cm
Height: 2.4 cm
Method of acquisition: Given (1988-03-14) by Darwin, George Pember
19th Century, Early
George III
Circa
1807
CE
-
1808
CE
The Brown Water Lily service was not designed specially for Susannah and Robert Darwin, but became known as the 'Darwin Service' because of theirs, which was ordered in 1807 and it had been received by 29 March 1808 as recorded in a letter from Susannah Darwin to her brother Josiah II (L.2.2.35). It had 150 pieces of which 129 are known, including 57 10 in plates (i.e. 9 7/8 in). There are plates in the British Museum (1887,0307,1.795), and the Victoria & Albert Museum (C.139-1963) and( Wedgwood Collection WE.4043-2014).
This pattern was no. 495 in the first Wedgwood Pattern Book, described as 'Brown printed Water Lily, shaded in red and cut up with gold, and gold outside edge'. It was the first printed botanical pattern to be produced at Etruria, following a decision to introduce underglaze printed ware in March 1805. The earliest invoice for engraving the plates was from Semei Bourne for a pickle saucer in 1806, and most of the designs for the prints for the dinner service were engraved by John Robinson in 1807. The water lilies were based on the following illustrations: The Botanists' Repository, vol. VI, October 1803, pl. 330, Nymphaea stellata; The Botanical Magazine, December 1804, pl. 797, Nymphaea lotus; The Botanists' Repository, vol. VI, September 1804, pl. 391, Nymphaea lotus; The Botanical Magazine, February 1806, pl. 903a & b, Nelumbium speciosum. This and a few other botanical patterns, such as Peony (see C.864-1984) appear to have been introduced at Etruria because of John Wedgwood's interested in botany, and after he withdrew from the firm in 1812, they were not continued.
Decoration composed of enamel ( pale terracotta) gold
Moulding
: Earthenware printed underglaze in brown, painted overglaze in pale terracotta enamel and gilt.
Lead-glazing
Accession number: C.3-1988
Primary reference Number: 11974
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:
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IIIF Manifest
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Plate from the Darwin Service" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/11974 Accessed: 2025-07-19 09:05:29
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/11974
|title=Plate from the Darwin Service
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-07-19 09:05:29|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-11974
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<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa35/C_3_1988_200807_adn21_dc2.jpg"
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<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Plate from the Darwin Service</figcaption>
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