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Side Plate from 'Travel' series (aeroplane)
Factory:
Wedgwood
Designer:
Ravilious, Eric William
Earthenware plate, printed underglaze in black and painted overglaze in pale turquoise enamel.
'Windsor Grey' body, circular with slightly concave rim and shallow, curved sides. Decorated in the centre with 'Aeroplane' from 'Travel' pattern; a bi-plane flying towards the sun over clouds; on the rim, weather cones (?) alternating with turquoise semi-circles under curved black lines.
History note: Purchased from 'Gabor Cossa', Trumpington Street, Cambridge
Given by the Friends of the Fitzwillima Museum
Diameter: 20.5 cm
Height: 1.7 cm
Method of acquisition: Given (1997-03-03) by The Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum
20th Century, Mid#
Production date:
AD 1954
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.
Decoration composed of enamel ( pale turquoise)
'Windsor Grey coloured body
Earthenware
Clear glaze
Moulding
: Earthenware, printed underglaze and painted overglaze in enamel.
Glazing (coating)
Inscription present: circular mark, 'WEDGWOOD / MADE IN ENGLAND' in the centre
Inscription present: (possibly 'TK')
Accession number: C.15-1997
Primary reference Number: 12101
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:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Side Plate from 'Travel' series (aeroplane)" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/12101 Accessed: 2024-11-02 18:22:20
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/12101
|title=Side Plate from 'Travel' series (aeroplane)
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-02 18:22:20|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-12101
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa6/C_15_1997.jpg"
alt="Side Plate from 'Travel' series (aeroplane)"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Side Plate from 'Travel' series (aeroplane)</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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