Oval dish from ‘Travel’ series (sailing boat): C.13-1997

Titles

Oval dish from ‘Travel’ series (sailing boat)

Maker(s)

Factory: Wedgwood
Designer: Ravilious, Eric William

Entities

• Dish

Categories

• Earthenware
• Art Pottery

Description

'Windsor Grey' earthenware, printed underglaze in black and painted overglaze in pale turquoise enamel with 'Sailing from 'Travel' pattern

'Windsor Grey' earthenware body, printed underglaze in black and painted overglaze in pale turquoise enamel. Oval with a sloping rim, and deep curved sides. Decorated in the centre with `Sailing' from 'Travel' pattern: a sailing boat on a turquoise lake, trees, grass and sun overhead; on the rim, black weather cones (?) alternating with turquoise semi-circles under curved black lines.

Notes

History note: Purchased from `Gabor Cossa', Trumpington Street, Cambridge

Legal notes

Given by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum

Place(s) associated

• Barlaston ⪼ Staffordshire ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1997-03-03) by The Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum

Dating

20th Century, Mid#
Elizabeth II
Production date: circa AD 1954

Note

Eric Ravilious (1903-42) studied engraving, illustration and colour printing at the Royal College of Art and by 1926-28 was exhibiting watercolours, producing book illustrations and commissioned to paint murals. In 1930 he married Eileen Lucy "Tirzah" Garwood (1908-1951) also a noted artist and engraver. From around 1936, he became one of Wedgwood’s most prolific freelance designers, although many of his designs were not produced in quantity until after World War II, during which he was killed while serving as a war artist with the Royal Marines. Wedgwood had revived the use of engraved designs in the mid 1930s – a mode of decoration which allowed the artist’s own work and ‘hand-writing’ to be reproduced in a factory setting, and well suited to Ravilious’ style.

Ravilious produced at least seven Wedgwood tableware pattern series, each with a number of vignettes on a single everyday theme, and sometimes also drew the tableware shapes for additions such as jam-pots. ‘Travel’ was designed c.1937 and first made in 1953. It was printed in black on a newly-introduced Windsor Grey body and hand coloured. A ‘Travel’ dinner service for six, depicting travel through snow and by balloon, bus, train, aeroplane, steamboat and sail, cost £17 3s 6d. Ravilious also designed commemorative wares, including a Coronation Mug for Edward VIII (1936), later adapted for the coronations of both George VI and Elizabeth II; a mug celebrating the company’s relocation to Barlaston (1939); and a ‘Boat Race Day’ bowl, cup and stand (1938). Earlier designs were engraved at the factory from Ravilious’ drawings, but the ‘Boat Race’ images were lithographs drawn by Ravilious himself for direct application to the ware.

The Fitzwilliam Museum also holds a war-time watercolour by Ravilious, two books with his engravings and a number of his prints, and a book of Tirzah Ravilious’ engravings.