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Dish: Tulips in a vase: C.1426-1928

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Object information

Current Location: Gallery 27 (Glaisher)

Titles

Dish: Tulips in a vase

Maker(s)

Pottery: Unidentified Southwark Pottery (Probably)

Entities

Categories

Description

Tin-glazed earthenware painted in polychrome

Reddish-buff earthenware, tin-glazed and painted in blue, green, and yellow, and a little orange. Circular with a wide sloping rim, and shallow sides, standing on a footring. (Archer's shape A) The centre is decorated with with tulips in a vase standing on a chequered ground, with 'W/WS to the left of the vase, and '16:61' to the right. On the rim there is a border of fruit (pomegranates), leaves, and diaper panels, and on the edge, a yellow band with orange dashes

Notes

History note: Bought in Bournemouth, probably in 1919, by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge

Legal notes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 48.5 cm
Height: 7.7 cm

Place(s) associated

  • London ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

17th Century, third quarter#
Charles II
Production date: dated AD 1661

Note

A passion for tulips developed in western Europe during the early seventeenth century and became a veritable mania in the Netherlands in the 1620s and 30s. After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Dutch influence on the arts in England was very strong, and for about thirty years floral decoration including cut tulips and other flowers in vases was very popular. Delftware potters in London responded to this fashion by producing large dishes, known to collectors as 'chargers', decorated either with tulips growing from a small mound and spreading over the whole surface of the dish, or arranged in a vase, and usually having round the edge a continues series of blue, or sometimes yellow dashes. This is the earliest dated example decorated with tulips. Most of these chargers are of a deep bowl-like form standing on a footring, but this exceptionally large example has a wide flat centre with shallow sides and a broad rim. The arrangement of the pomegranates and parti-coloured leaves in panels separated by blue trellis pattern suggests that the design was influenced by Chinese blue and white dishes of the Wanli period (1573-1619), but the fruit and leaves were probably derived from dishes imported from Italy or the Netherlands. Pomegranates was auspicious because they were symbols of fertility, and in Christian art, of the immortality of the soul. The initials WS on the front may be those of the pot-painter, because they also appear on the back. Two possible candidates were William Saddes (recorded in 1663) and William Shelton (recorded in 1665) both working in Southwark.

School or Style

Baroque

Components of the work

Decoration composed of high-temperature colours ( blue, green, and yellow, and a little orange)
Front

Materials used in production

thick, lumpy and greenish on the back Tin-glazing

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: W/WS 16:61
  • Location: On front
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue
  • Type: Initials and date

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.1426-1928
Primary reference Number: 71983
Old object number: R.2409
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Friday 16 June 2023 Last processed: Friday 16 February 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Dish: Tulips in a vase" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/71983 Accessed: 2024-11-24 19:11:58

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/71983 |title=Dish: Tulips in a vase |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-24 19:11:58|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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