- Museum number
- C226.1A
C226.1B - Object
- Covered vase, one of a pair, Chelsea Porcelain Factory, soft-paste porcelain, 1752-1756
- Description
- Vase and cover, one of a pair, English, Chelsea, c.1755; soft-paste porcelain decorated in enamel colours and gilding. Four-sided elongated inverted baluster-shaped body expanding at the base, with short straight neck and gilt line, decorated on the front side with a large naturalistic spray of flowers and two smaller individual flowers with leaves, the other three sides decorated in similar style with smaller flowers and butterflies arranged randomly; the cover of square domed shape with wide rim and knop, decorated in similar manner to the vase, with gilt edge.
- Materials
- Porcelain
- Inscription
- Red anchor.
- On display?
- Yes
Further description
- Simple name
- Ceramic
Lid - Subject
- Naturalistic
- Dimensions
- regular: 20.955cm (w)
Pair of covered vases
Chelsea Porcelain Factory
Soft-paste porcelain, between 1752 and 1756
C226.1-2
Plants and flowers were a major source of inspiration for the designers of eighteenth-century porcelain. They were painted in underglaze blue, brightly coloured overglaze enamels or gleaming gold. In naturalistic rococo pieces moulded flowers and leaves form decorative finials, handles and even entire objects.
Early pieces copied Chinese and Japanese designs: the so-called Indianische blümen [Indian flowers] of Meissen. Later, native European flowers, known at Meissen as Deutsche blümen [German flowers] were copied from books of botanical illustrations. In England, the Chelsea Factory produced many striking pieces moulded in the forms of flowers, leaves and even vegetables.
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