C317: Vase
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© The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath
| Museum number | C317 |
| Title | Vase |
| Object type | In category: Ceramics » Vase/bottle |
| Date | Between 1770 and 1775 |
| People |
Wedgwood, Josiah (British ceramicist, 1730-1795) (known) - Manufacturer(s) After Stella, Jacques (French painter, draughtsman and engraver, 1596-1657) - Designer(s) |
| Place of origin | Europe » Northern Europe » British Isles » Great Britain » England |
| Condition |
Fair |
| Dimensions |
28.0 cm height whole |
| Materials & techniques |
In categories: Ceramic » Pottery » Earthenware » Lead-glazed earthenware » Other lead-glazed earthenware Ceramic » Pottery » Stoneware » Basalt ware |
| Description | An urn-shaped ewer surmounted by a large gilt handle in the form of a scaly dolphin's tail. The gilt spout is in the form of a foliate mask and a smaller mask is applied to the body below the handle. Of cream-coloured earthenware with a 'pebble' glaze imitating green marble. With square black basalt ware base | ||||||
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Notes | Although in the form of a ewer, this vase was intended to be purely decorative. During the late eighteenth-century such was the demand for vases in the fashionable 'antique' style that, in addition to copying surviving ancient Greek and Roman antiquities, manufacturers took designs from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century prints. The design for this vase is by the French artist Jacques Stella and is taken from the Livre de Vases that was published by his niece Claudine Antoinette Bouzonnet in Paris, 1667. .Josiah Wedgwood admired Stella's work and noted that 'many good things may be made out of [ it ]'. The original design has been adapted by adding scales to the dolphin's tail and raising the height of the plinth. Wedgwood derived at least three further vase shapes from designs in the Livre de Vases. In 1769 Wedgwood announced his intention of becoming "Vase-Maker General to the Universe". His factory manufactured thousands of vases that were sold as ornaments for fashionable neo-classical interiors.The main body of the vase is made of a refined cream-coloured earthenware that was marketed by Wedgwood as 'creamware'. The glaze is one of a number of 'pebble' glazes used by Wedgwood to imitates marbles and hardstones. The base is of black basalt, a fine grained stoneware that was perfected by Wedgwood in the 1760s. It was coloured using 'carr', an oxide of iron suspended in water that had flowed through coal seams and mines. This was one of sixteen Wedgwood vases listed in a cupboard in Sir T. W. Holburne's bedroom in 1874 (AR153). In 1868 it was lent it to the National Exhibition of Works of Art held at Leeds. | ||||||
| Muse theme | Art and Culture in Georgian Bath 1714-1830 |
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| Muse chapter |
The History of the Holburne Collection » Sir William Holburne and his Collection » Arranging the Collection: Sir William at Home
The History of the Holburne Collection » The Collection » Ceramics Art and Culture in Georgian Bath 1714-1830 » Leisure » Shopping & Fashion |
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| Method of acquisition | Bequest | ||||||
| Provenance | Sir T. W. Holburne (1793-1874); by whom bequeathed to Mary Anne Barbara Holburne (1802-1882); by whom bequeathed to the Museum | ||||||
| Exhibition history |
Title of exhibition: National Exhibition of Works of Art |
