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Dish emblematic of Fecundity
Pottery:
Pickleherring Pottery
(Probably)
Proprietor of pottery:
Newnham, Richard
Tin-glazed and painted earthenware decorated in relief with a nude woman and five children emblematic of fecundity
Buff earthenware, press-moulded, tin-glazed, and painted in blue, green, yellow, and brownish-orange. Oval, with wide rim, and curved well. The rim is moulded in relief with alternately oval and circular depressions, separated by human masks, and vases of fruit and foliage, and the well with a reclining nude woman and five nude children, one of whom holds a dog. One of the circular depressions at top centre of the rim is nitialled and dated 'D/C M/1651 in blue.
History note: Purchased by Mortlock & Co, Oxford Street, London from an unknown vendor in 1893; purchased by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher from Mortlock & Co on 10 July 1907, for £75.
Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest
Height: 6.1 cm
Width: 40.3 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
17th Century, Mid#
Commonwealth
Production date:
dated
AD 1651
This dish is one of about forty-three dishes dated between 1633 and 1697 which are decorated in relief with a scene emblematic of Fecundity, showing a nude woman reclining on pillows on a mattress with five nude children to her left. The design was copied from a French lead-glazed earthenware dish, traditionally attributed to Bernard Palissy (c/ 1510- 1590), but probably made by one of his followers in Paris, Fontainebleau, or Rouen A French merchant, Claude Beaulat, living in London, seems to have specialized in importing ceramics from France, could have been the channel through which dishes of this design reached London. (See Documentation, Britton, and Denis-Dupuis) The Pickleherring, Montague Close, and Rotherhithe potteries in Southwark were operating in 1651 when this dish was made, but it seems likely that it was made at Pickleherring. The sailing ship in the circular depressions, links the dish to seven others with ship motifs in their borders. One of these, at Colonial Williamsburg (inv. 19698-123) is decorated with the arms of the Broderers' Company and the initials N/RE and date 1661, probably for Richard and Elizabeth Newnham. Richard was the proprietor of the Pickleherring pottery, Southwark from 1647 until his death in 1684, and there is therefore a strong likelihood that this group of Fecundity dishes was made there. See also C.1410-1928.
Decoration
composed of
high-temperature colours
( blue, green, yellow, brownish-orange)
Whoel
Length 48.8 cm
buff
Earthenware
Tin-glaze
Press-moulding
: Earthenware, press-moulded, tin-glazed, and painted in blue, green, yellow, and brownish-orange high-temperature (metallic oxide) colours; many pinholes in the glaze on the reverse
Tin-glazing
Accession number: C.1422-1928
Primary reference Number: 71979
Old object number: 2699
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) "Dish emblematic of Fecundity" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/71979 Accessed: 2024-12-18 09:42:24
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/71979
|title=Dish emblematic of Fecundity
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-18 09:42:24|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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