'Porphyry' vase
Factory:
Wedgwood
Designer:
Wilson, Norman
Earthenware, moulded and thrown, decorated with coloured oxides, glazed and gilded.
Vase, krater shape (flared bowl standing on a convex base) with small scallop-shaped lugs. The outside covered in flecked brown and grey, resembling porphyry, with gold outlines around the base, neck, scallop lugs and gadrooning at the base of the bowl. The inside is undecorated cream, and glazed. The underside has a narrow foot-ring, within which it is glazed and rises to a small, central vent hole.
History note: Unknown before Sir Ivor and Lady Batchelor, St Andrew's, Fife. On loan since 2006.
Given by Sir Ivor and Lady Batchelor
Height: 17.7 cm
Width: 13.6 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (2015-04-27) by Batchelor, Ivor, Sir and Lady
20th Century, third quarter#
Elizabeth II
1958
CE
-
1962
CE
In the 1950s, Wedgwood’s experimentation with glazes was lead by Norman Wilson (1902-85). Wilson learned his trade working in his father’s china works while studying at North Staffordshire technical College, where he won a silver medal and, later, lectured. He joined Wedgwood as Works Manager in 1927, and became joint Managing Director a few years before his retirement in 1963. His main contribution was in the technical modernisation of the factory, but he also created decorative glazes (including the matt glazes used by Keith Murray and John Skeaping), contributed to the design of successful tableware series and created his own of ‘Unique Wares’ which explore forms and experimental glazes, sometimes using several glazes on a single pot.
This vase revisits Josiah Wedgwood’s introduction of classical vase forms and ‘porphyry’ or ‘pebble’ glazes, in the 1770s. Alongside variegated wares produced by mixing clays or trailing or painting coloured slips, natural stone was imitated by sprinkling powdered oxides onto the biscuit ware or, perhaps, onglaze. By 1772 Wedgwood claimed ‘upwards of 100 good forms’ of such vases. Most of these early examples were gilded and produced in pairs with matching plinths.
Decoration
composed of
oxide colours
glaze
Decorating
Throwing
: Earthenware, moulded, thrown, sprinkled with oxides and glazed
Moulding
Inscription present: 'WEDGWOOD' printed in blue, remainder inscribed
Accession number: C.121-2015
Primary reference Number: 205005
Batchelor number: none
Entry form number: 648
Old object number: AAL.121-2006
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) "'Porphyry' vase" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/205005 Accessed: 2024-04-25 05:34:35
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/205005
|title='Porphyry' vase
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-25 05:34:35|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-205005
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