Posts Tagged ‘wares’

19th Century Victorian English Busts and Statues
Parian, or “statuary porcelain”, was possibly the most significant ceramics development in Britain during the Victorian period. Named after the Greek island of Paros for its resemblance to the white marble quarried there, parian was a bone china that contained a high degree of feldspar, which meant that it did not need a separate glaze. Decorative wares could therefore be displayed without becoming dirty, unlike earlier biscuit, or unglazed, white porcelain, which was coarse and difficult to clean. First made in the 1840s, parian was capable of being moulded without losing any detail, with the result that contemporary sculptors could have their works successfully reproduced for the mass market. Parian was also made in the USA at the United States Pottery in Bennington, Vermont.
IMPORTANT MAKERS
There remains Uncertainty as to which factory invented parian. The firms of Minton & Co. (est. 1793) and Copeland (1833-1933), both in Stoke-on-Trent, claimed to have discovered the secret; both were making parianlike porcelain by the mid-1840x, and at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London they displayed an extensive range of parian subjects. Other famous makers included Royal Worcester (est. 1862), Coalport (est. c.1796), and Wedgwood (est. 1759), all of whom made a range of wares, figures, and busts, while Wedgwood also made impressive, large figure groups. Smaller portrait busts were the speciality of Robinson & Leadbeater (est. early 1860s), in Hanley, and others were made by the firm of Goss ( 1858-1940), in Stoke-on-Trent. Parian dominated English porcelain production for display objects for about 40 years, and a great deal survives.
PORCELAIN BUSTS AND STATUES
Models for parian were provided by eminent Victorian sculptors, whose full-sized statues could be reduced in size and reproduced in quantity for commercial sale without losing quality. The work of contemporary sculptors such as John Bell (1812-95), Raphaelle Monti (1818-81), and Sir Thomas Brock (1847-1922), together with famous Classical statues housed in museums, could be reproduced and sold to a wide public. A device known as “Cheverton’s
Reducing Machine”, patented by Benjamin Cheverton in 1844, was developed to allow subjects to be scaled down and cast in moulds for the ceramics factories. Busts were made of various subjects, including royalty, politicians, philanthropists, poets, composers, and
characters from antiquity. Figures ranged from meaningful allegories to barely disguised eroticism; for example, The Greek Slave, a controversial sculpture by the American sculptor Hiram Powers (1805-73), was displayed at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and copied by Minton & Co. Many parian figures were made either for the Art Union of London or for the Ceramic and Crystal Palace Art Union, which were lotteries set up by philanthropic Victorians to raise funds for the arts; parian works were frequently offered as prizes. The manufacture of artistic parian gradually diminished in favour of the large-scale mass production of portrait busts, and little of any consequence was nude after c.1880.
• BODY fine, highly vitrified, generally pure white
• FINISH matt, semi-matt, or with a slight surface sheen
• PRODUCTION usually slip-cast, therefore quite light
• FORMS sentimental figures; figures Of politicians, royalty, and composers; literary, religious, and allegorical subjects; copies of famous Classical statues housed in museums; works by Victorian sculptors
• IMPORTANT MANUFACTURERS Minton & CO.,
Copeland, and Robinson & Leadbeater

Rockingham
During the 1820s all established pottery works at Swinton in South Yorkshire was moved to the Wentworth estate of Earl Fitzwilliam, Marquess of Rockingham, and expanded by the Brameld family to include a porcelain works, with financial support from the Marquess. Bone china was first made there c.1825, and the factory, known as “Rockingham”, soon developed a very individual style.
THE ROCOCO REVIVAL
The Rockingham factory is synonymous with fancy shapes; indeed, the term “eccentric” is often used for the wares, with some justification. While certain Rockingham designs are plain and elegant, the makers became masters of the Rococo Revival, and specialized in lavish moulded decoration. Perhaps the most extravagant examples of this style are the two large “Rhinoceros” vases (c.1826) with rhinoceros-shaped finials, one of which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Tea-sets were made in the shape of plants with overlapping leaves, and handles were often in the form of gnarled branches. Many of the shapes have a rustic quality- even the most celebrated dessert service made for King William IV c.1830 included curiously shaped centrepieces. Fine painters, including Thomas Steel (1772-1850), famous for painting fruit, and George Speight, famous for figure Subjects, decorated plaques, vases, and dessert services. In competition with similarly styled wares made at the factories of Minton & Co. (est. 1793), in Staffordshire, and Coalport (est. c.17 96), in Shropshire, Rockingham porcelain encrusted with modelled flowers copied the style of contemporary wares made at the factory of Meissen in Germany.
THE ROCKINGHAM CONFUSION
Rockingham teawares competed with those produced by such factories as Ridgway (1792-1848) and Davenport (c.1793-1887), using coloured grounds and painted floral reserves. Rockingham figures were often exact copies of Derby, since all the principal English factories supplied the same
Englis
shops. The reason that Rockingham achieved greater fame than its contemporaries is that it marked so many of its
products. Unfortunately, unmarked tea-sets from factories such as Coalport, Ridgway, and Samuel Alcock & Co. (est. 1826) were mistakenly called “Rockingham” because they represented the same Rococo
Revival fashion and looked similar to
the marked Rockingham wares. Manv
Victorian homes owned such tea-sets,
and these have been passed on as
“Rockingham” china, although
very identify few were actually made by the
Yorkshire factory. To denrify such
sets correctly, it is important to learn the distinctive shapes made at the factory and its pattern numbers. In the same way,
Rockingham marks on small animals led to
the incorrect attribution of a great range of Staffordshire porcelain ornaments, especially
sheep, shaggy served as
shaggy poodles, and cottages, which served pastille burners. Because of such confusion, Rockingham became a household name for inexpensive ornaments.
Rockingham was also renowned for its lavish and ambitious dessert services, such as that commissioned for the coronation of William IV in 1831, which was ready in time for the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838. Partly because of the costs associated with such services, the factory was forced to close in 1842.
• BODY bone china, ivory toned, prone to crazing and discoloration
• STYLE Rococo Revival
• FORMS decorative wares, pot-pourri vases, lavish tea and dessert services
• DECORATION heavily encrusted with flowers
• COLLECTING output was very small; handle shapes on teawares, and the shapes of vases, must match known Rockingham examples

Derby
William Duesbury the younger succeeded his
father in 1786 and guided the Derby factory through its best and most significant period. Production was aimed only at the wealthiest customers, with every piece finished to the highest standards.
DOMESTIC WARES
The speciality of Derby was cabinet wares, particularly cups or cans and saucers, or cabaret sets – far too expensive to use and intended purely to be admired. Decoration in panels or reserves was executed by such superb artists as Zachariah Boreman (1738-1810) and Thomas “Jockey” Hill (1753-1827) who painted landscapes, Richard Askew (active 1772-95) who was famous for figures, George Complin (active c.1755-95) who painted birds and fruit, and William Billingsley (1758-1828),the greatest of all English flower-painters. Derby rediscovered the charm of botanical decoration, and flower prints were accurately copied onto wonderful dessert services. Derby’s glaze was creamy white and very soft, accounting for a delightful, smooth, and subtle feeling quite unlike any other English porcelain. In consequence its wares are much in demand today, and the best vases and cabinet cups are hugely expensive.
During the early 19th century Derby excelled at copying colourful patterns inspired by old Japanese wares and really took this form of decoration to heart. Combinations of Chinese and Japanese designs were brought together in a totally English way to suit the
T The “Bemrose” garniture designed by Jean-Jacques Spangler (b.1752)
Named after William Bemrose, the collector and writer on Derby, this garniture borrows heavily from continental porcelain styles. These vases are also known as “Kedleston” after those in Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire. (c.1790-92; ht of vase 38.5cmll5in; value L)
Regency taste for Oriental styles. Derby sold its Imari patterns in competition with Coalport and Worcester, and mass-production methods were used to keep costs down. As a result the patterns were painted quickly,
giving each piece a spontaneity that can be highly decorative. Some of the Derby Imari designs have name such as the “Old Witches”, the “Tree of Life”, or the “Kings” pattern, which was a particular favourite.
FIGURES
Figure-making was always important at Derby, and in the 19th century the factory was still Britain’s principal producer; however, there was now serious competition from two other quarters. Staffordshire potters copied every new Derby figure in inexpensive earthenware as soon as it came on sale, and seriously threatened Derby’ monopoly. At the same time Meissen figures were imported in great quantity into Britain and found an appreciative market. Derby countered this new competition by copying other factories’ works. During the 1820s and 1830s the reproductions of the latest Meissen models even carried the Meissen crossed sword mark. However, the great period of Derby had ended in 1797 with the death of Duesbury, and the factory went into a steady decline, eventually closing in 1848. Other factories were subsequently established in Derby, the trios successful being the Derby Crown Porcelain Co. (est. 1870), which was styled Royal Crown Derby in 1890.
• pure white soft-paste porcelain (post-1770)
• GLAZE creamy; frequently stained by surface crazing
• DECORATION gilding is of the very best quality; some gilders are identifiable by a number; fine botanical studies; birds; landscapes; Japanese Imari patterns
• LEADING PAINTERS Boreman and Hill (landscapes), Askew (figures), Complin (birds among fruit), Billingsley (flowers)
• FIGURES style after Meissen; rich colouring, including use of deep blue and gold
Marks
1782-1825: marks carefully painted in blue or purple; after 1800 usually painted in red with less care
c.1820-40: although Robert Bloor suffered from mental illness from 1826, the period through to 1840 is named after him; mark printed in red

Porcelain
Plymouth, Bristol, and New Hall
English porcelain belonged to a type known technically as soft-paste, or “artificial”, porcelain, which lacked the beautiful hard whiteness of hard-paste porcelain such as that produced in China or at Meissen. However, the chemist William Cookworthy (1705-80) believed that hard paste could be made in Britain and searched for suitable raw materials. Kaolin (china clay), the essential ingredient in true porcelain, had been discovered in Cornwall in 1745, and Cookworthy patented several formulas containing this mineral to make what he believed to be the finest English porcelain.
PLYMOUTH AND BRISTOL
From c.1768 Cookworthy produced England’s first commercial hard-paste porcelain at his Plymouth works, but it was dogged by serious problems. A pure white glaze was rarely achieved – the creamy surface was frequently covered with black specks that gave it a dirty appearance. Like Meissen and other European makers, Plymouth experienced difficulties with its underglaze blue, which almost turned black, with severe blurring. Painters from Worcester were attracted to Plymouth, and the factory’s shapes and Oriental designs closely follow those of Worcester. Few collectors will admit that Plymouth was a failure, but when Cookworthy moved to Bristol in 1770 he had little of any real quality to show new investors.
The porcelain made by Cookworthyat Bristol was probably identical to his Plymouth wares, and it seems likely that much of the porcelain today called “Plymouth” was really made at Bristol. Improvements were made: John Toulouse, a modeller at Bow, came via Worcester and introduced new shapes and figures, mainly direct copies of the latest patterns of Meissen’s “Academic” period (1763-74). Bristol sometimes marked its wares with a copy of the Meissen crossed swords, a feature that often confuses present-day collectors – particularly since Bristol porcelain achieved a whiteness similar to that of Meissen after Richard Champion (1743-91) took over Cookworthy’s patents
in 1774. Champion made some beautiful porcelain, especially in the Neo-classical
style, but never in any great quantity because the works continued to be plagued by firing difficulties, notably “wreathing” – spiral ridges
on the surface caused by kiln distortion. Plates and dishes were placed on clay supports during firing to prevent warping. The factory closed in 1781.
NEW HALL
Despite the failure of Bristol, Champion still saw a future for English hard-paste porcelain and visited Staffordshire to try to sell his patent. A consortium of manufacturers showed an interest but realized
that Champion’s formula had to be adapted for mass production. As the New Hall Co., the consortium opened a factory c.1781 at Shelton to exploit an improved version of Champion’s porcelain body – the type now known as “hybrid hard paste”. The glaze tended to be greenish-grey, but it could be potted very thinly, and wreathing was a less severe problem. The factory was designed to make a profit and aimed its products at a mass market, ignoring more expensive pieces such as ornamental figures and vases. Tea and coffee services in a limited range of patterns comprised the bulk of New Hall’s output. Other factories, also concentrating on teawares, were established in competition, and each firm produced its own version of standard shapes – it is therefore important for collectors to learn the differences. New Hall continued into the 1830s, although its later products are not as collectable.
Plymouth (c.1768-70)
• BODY hard-paste porcelain
• GLAZE a pure white glaze was rarely achieved, because the creamy surface was frequently covered by a smoke of black specks that gave it a dirty appearance
• UNDERGLAZE BLUE almost black, with severe blurring
• DECORATION Oriental patterns following Worcester
Marks
This alchemical sign for tin (which was the main industry in Cornwall) was sometimes used
Bristol (1770-81)
• BODY hard-paste porcelain; very white after 1774
• FEATURES “wreathing” – ridges spiralling around the surface – can often be seen on cups and other hollow shapes owing to firing difficulties
• STYLE Neo-classical, continental
• DECORATION inspired by Meissen “Academic” wares
Marks
Mark in blue enamel, sometimes accompanied by numerals; Meissen crossed-swords mark also copied
New Hall (c.1781-1830s)
• BODY hard-paste porcelain, thinly potted
• GLAZE thick, dull, and greenish grey
• FORMS specialized in tea and coffee services aimed at the mass market; other items are extremely rare
Marks
Pattern numbers were introduced to enable customers to reorder easily, and these help with identification

Art Deco Table Wares
Companies engaged in manufacturing products for preparing and serving food found it necessary to accommodate the new trends in modern design. Streamlined and angular shapes can be found not only in sets of china but in kitchen equipment as well. In this section, table wares are not confined to dishes but include other utilitarian and decorative pieces. Because of the great diversity of this category, it is possible to show only a sample of items, but the pieces illustrated should alert collectors to the many possibilities table wares offer. Photographs are arranged approximately in alphabetical order according to the function of the item, ranging from candle holders, centerpieces and crumbers, to pitchers and a toaster!
Table wares basically are made of pottery, glass or metal. Ceramics include earthenware or semi-china, stoneware and porcelain. Simplified decoration distinguishes Deco china from that produced during the Victorian years. Floral transfer patterns covering the entire surface of china gave way to colored line borders or abstract geometric patterns. Sometimes china was left undecorated with the shape or mold drawing attention to a modern image. Geometric shapes other than the usual circular form are seen here in the rectangular bowl and the triangular shaped cup and saucer.
Ceramic table wares can be found at all price levels. Pieces designed and handpainted by Clarice Cliff for the Royal Staffordshire Pottery during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s are highly regarded by advanced collectors. Price can reach several hundred to several thousand dollars for some examples, especially those with floral and landscape decor. “Bizarre,” “Geometric,” — and “Fantasque” were some of the pattern names. The English artist’s signature was included on most of her work. Pieces which do not have her name or signature as part of the mark are usually considerably lower in price. “The Biarritz” soup bowl shown here is one such example. Although the pattern is quite simple, it also merits consideration as a form of Deco table ware. Deco patterns by other English potters are also quite collectible. Many good examples in the moderate price ranges are surfacing. These may be found mixed in with other miscellaneous dishes by dealers who do not specialize in Art Deco.
“American Modern, ” designed by Russel Wright for the Ohio based Steubenville Pottery is also quite collec
tible and much lower in price. This line was made from about 1939 through the late 1950’s. Solid colored surfaces without other added decoration implied a modern concept. Many other European and American pottery and porcelain factories produced their own renditions of “modern” style. Japanese table ware companies used similar interpretations to reach the large American market. Deco patterned china made by the Noritake firm has been attracting many collectors during the last few years. Prices are still affordable but not inconsequential. Table china, however, is probably the largest source of Art Deco “sleepers” and possible bargains today.
Angular shapes or stylized designs cut or molded into glass table wares were made to grace the dining tables of the period. Art glass by French manufacturers is usually too expensive for moderate collectors. The large blue centerpiece bowl made by Daum and the smoke glass bowl by Verlys are two such examples. These would fall into the “investment” rather than the “fun” class of Deco collectibles. But, like ceramics, many types of inexpensive table glass were made during the 1930’s and 1940’s by American factories. Depression era glass collectors began to salvage pieces during the 1960’s. A number of the patterns have unmistakable Deco characteristics. “Manhattan,” a clear glass pattern made by Anchor Hocking is just one type finding its way into Deco collections. The ruby red, cobalt blue and deep green colored glass made by other American glass companies also qualifies as Deco. Quite a few pieces are very attractive, some are even elegant and others are just amusing.
Flatware, serving pieces and decorative table articles can be found in silver, brass, copper, chrome and plated metals. Chrome and plated metals are the least expensive. Nude or semi-nude figures were made into metal centerpieces or candle holders. Prices are competitive with other figural items and examples are just as much in demand. A number of metal Deco items were originally silverplated. Because the plating wears off, items become ugly and lose much of their value. Dealers have found it lucrative to have such objects stripped to the base metal which was usually copper or brass. The copper centerpiece with a pot metal nude is an example which was once silver plated. Do not automatically disregard badly worn plated pieces which have obvious Deco signs. It may be wise to have them stripped and polished by a commercial firm which specializes in that kind of work.

Worcester
Worcester was not perhaps the most obvious location for a major British porcelain manufacturer to be established because there were no local deposits of clay or coal; these had to be brought in by river. Nonetheless, it was there in 1751 that Dr John Wall and William Davis invested in a new porcelain factory.
1751-70
The new factory suffered heavy kiln losses, and in 1752 the partners bought up Benjamin Lund’s factory in Bristol and with it Lund’s secret porcelain formula that included Cornish soapstone. The use of soapstone gave Worcester porcelain increased durability, enabling its teapots to withstand hot liquids – those of most other British makers tended to crack in contact with boiling water. During the 1750s and 1760s Worcester specialized in teawares, sauceboats, pots for pate, meats and tarts, and pickle-dishes.
Early blue-and-white Worcester shows the influence of the Bristol factory, with shapes derived from British silver. Worcester’s coloured patterns were in the factory’s Unique form of chinoiserie that combined elements from China, Japan, Meissen, early Staffordshire, stoneware, and glass. This proved popular in the 1750s and is highly sought after by collectors today. By 1755 Worcester had perfected its blue-and-white wares by eliminating heavy blurring,
and was making fine tea services. Worcester can claim the credit for
the invention of printing on porcelain, and it used this technique extensively to produce overglaze black enamel and underglaze-blue printed decoration.
blue ground and also invented its famous “scale blue” (in which the underglaze blue ground was painted using a tiny fish-scale pattern) and developed other coloured grounds previously made famous by Sevres and Chelsea. The reserved panels on the coloured grounds were decorated with flowers and exotic “fancy birds”.
In the 1780s, with competition from Derby and imported French porcelain, and the influx of inexpensive Chinese wares, Worcester lost its premier position. Its recovery was slow, because the success of blueand-white printed pottery led to the decline of other, more expensive wares. In 1783 Davis, who had managed the firm since 1774, was bought out by
Thomas Flight, whose son, John
Flight, was to reverse Worcester’s ailing fortunes.
• BODY soft-paste porcelain with grey-blue cast
• GLAZE fully glazed inside the foot-rims and under the rims of lids
• FORMS teawares, sauceboats, and pickle-dishes
• DECORATION blue-and-white copies of Chinese wares; polychrome chinoiseries; overglaze black transfer-printing and underglaze-blue printing introduced
Marks
Most blue-and-white wares bear a workman’s mark, usually a simple sign of uncertain meaning
• GLAZE evenly controlled with slight yellow-green cast; under-rims of covers unglazed; to avoid glaze running down onto the kiln during firing it was wiped away from the inside of feet c.1758-83 in a technique known as “pegging”
• FORMS teawares, plates, dishes, and vases
• DECORATION blue-and-white printing, much of it for export; Chinese decoration less important; in London Giles decorated many pieces in Meissen or Sevres style
Marks
Mark used on printed wares (1758-85)
Mark used on blue-ground wares (c.1762-85)
“Pseudo-Meissen” mark used on some coloured wares in a European style (c.1760-70)
1774-92
• BODY paste declined in quality; a more straw-coloured or yellowish cast; not well controlled
• FORMS traditional styles continued to be made, but were not so well executed
• DECORATION very bright-blue printing, prone to blurring; slow transition from Rococo to Neo-classical decoration; greater French influence
Marks
Crescent mark still used in addition to this
cursive “W” printed in blue (c.1770-75)

Capodimonte, Buen Retiro, and Naples
The first porcelain produced in Europe was made in Florence at the factory started by Francesco I de’ Medici, a member of one of the most powerful ruling families in Europe. The duke had a great interest in the applied arts and chemistry, and in the 1570s he initiated experiments in porcelain manufacture that would produce the first successful European soft-paste, or “artificial”, porcelain in 1575. The Medici porcelain enterprise was short-lived, however, and it was not until more than 150 years later that soft paste was again produced in Italy.
CAPODIMONTE AND BUEN RETIRO
The most famous porcelain factory in Italy was founded by Charles IV, King of Naples and Sicily (later Charles III of Spain), in 1743 at the royal palace of
Capodimonte. Although wares generally imitated those made at Meissen and Vienna in shape and decoration, a distinctive soft palette and stippled designs were used. Subjects included chinoiseries, landscapes with small figures and fruit and flowers, and battle scenes.
Capodimonte figures by the chief modeller, Giuseppe Gricci rank with those of Franz Anton Bustelli (1722-63) at Nymphenburg and Johann Joachim Kandler (1706-75) at Meissen. Gricci’s elegant yet lively modelling is particularly well set off by the fine soft paste, which heightens the effect of the flowing lines.
Naples
Many of the figures are undecorated, revealing the beautiful material, while others are painted in muted pastel shades. Gricci gave his figures disproportionately small heads, a feature peculiar to Capodimonte. He is also well known for his fabulous porcelain room in the royal palace at Portici, which is covered entirely with porcelain panels ornamented with chinoiserie figures.
In 1759 Charles succeeded his father as King of Spain, and moved the factory to the palace of Buen Retiro in Madrid. Early Buen Retiro wares are almost indistinguishable from Capodimonte. However, in the 1770s the factory ceased to import materials from Italy, and the quality of the paste deteriorated, becoming greyer and less refined. The Buen Retiro factory concentrated on the production of figures rather than wares; these are generally fairly sculptural in style and include allegorical subjects, peasants, and saints. hits.
NAPLES
After Charles III left for Spain, his son became King of Naples and Sicily as Ferdinand IV. In 1771 he revived the production Of porcelain, which continued until 1806 when lie was deposed by the French. Biscuit figures and Classical groups were created by the chief modeller, Filippo Tagliolini (1745-1808); the factory also made biscuit copies of antique sculpture from nearby Pompeii and Herculaneum. Most popular with collectors are the figures of peasants and bourgeois in brightly coloured contemporary dress. Tea, coffee, and dinner services and vases arc typical wares, decorated with views of Naples and its surroundings, including Mount Etna.
Capodimonte (1743-59) and Buen Retiro (1760-1812)
• BODY pure white and translucent with brilliant glaze, giving a slightly creamy tone; at Buen Retiro greyer and less refined, replaced by hard paste 1803
• DECORATION small figures in landscapes; fruit and flowers; chinoiseries in very pale, soft palette, often in stippled technique; continuous battle scenes
• FIGURES elegant and vigorously modelled; most have heads; most undecorated or sparingly painted
Marks
Capodimonte: this mark was used from c.1745: blue painted in gold or in underglaze blue
Buen Retiro: this underglaze blue marls was used in various forms from c.1760
Naples (1771-1806)
• Body glassy, white paste, similar to Capodimonte but lacking ivory-toned translucency
• DECORATION views of Naples and surroundings, sometimes very finely painted; also “Etruscan” style in black, white, and terracotta, imitating Greek vases
• FIGURES Classical biscuit groups; miniatures of antique statues; stiffly modelled peasants and bourgeoisie in brightly coloured contemporary costume
Vezzi, Cozzi, and Doccia
The production of hard-paste porcelain in Italy- only ten years after the founding of the Meissen factory. The manufacture of hard paste in Italy was in some ways more successful than that of soft paste; whereas the Naples factory closed in the I 9th century, the Doccia factory continues today.
KEY FACTS
Vezzi (1720-27)
• BODY translucent paste varying in colour from pure white through creamy white to almost grey with a clear glaze
• PALETTE strong brownish-red or leaf-green enamels; Underglaze blue
• DECORATION floral patterns, chinoiserie, large commedia dell’arte characters
VEZZI
The factory was founded in Venice in 1720 by the goldsmith Francesco Vezzi ( 1651-1740) and Christoph Conrad Hunger, an arcanist who had worked at Meissen and Vienna. The factory was short-lived, and very few pieces of Vezzi porcelain are known today. Production consisted mainly of cups and saucers, coffee- and teapots, and plates. As the material was still experimental, wares were thickly potted so that they did not collapse in the kiln. Vezzi forms were often inspired by contemporary Baroque silver or Oriental porcelain shapes. Among the popular subjects for painting were stylized floral motifs, large commedia dell’arte figures, and chinoiseries.
lam
The second hard-paste porcelain factory in Venice was established in 1764 by Geminiano Cozzi 1 –28-97). Its output was larger and more
successful than that of Vezzi. Cozzi introduced the lighter Rococo style. Some wares have applied flowers, but most are painted, in a palette dominated iron red, puce, and an iridescent green. The most common themes are flowers, unframed landscapes, and Classical figures in scrollwork or solid borders. Cozzi figures include Meissen-style pagoda figures, characters from the commedia dell’arte, and dwarfs modelled after engravings by the French artist Jacques Callot (1592-1635). They do not often appear on the market today and so are highly prized by collectors.
DOCCIA
The Doccia factory was founded near Florence in 1737 Carlo Ginori (1702-57). The earliest porcelain was a hybrid hard paste that had a rough, smeared surface and often cracked when fired. The quality improved after 1770, when a glaze that included tin oxide was used to make it whiter and opaque.
The largest part of the factory’s output was small and decorative wares, and tea and table services. The factory used some very distinctive types of decoration that make its wares easily recognizable, including designs known asa galetto
rosso” (Chinese-style cockerels painted in iron red and gold), “a tulipano” (iron-red peonies in the Oriental style), and classical figures moulded in low relief, with strong flesh tones and gilded details. The style was much imitated in the 19th century, but 18th-century examples are rare. Other techniques included decoration with stencilling (”stampino”) in blue and hire. The factory also produced figures with well-defined musculature on elaborate scroll bases. Some were left in the white, but others were painted in intense colours or, more rarely, in iron-red monochrome.
In the 19th century the factory continued to produce wares and figures in its 18th-century patterns. In 1896 it was incorporated with the Societa Richard of Milan under the name Richard-Ginori.
Marks
This mark was usually in underglaze blue, or gold or red enamel
Cozzi (1764-1812)
• Body greyish paste with distinctive wet-looking glaze; can vary in quality
• PALLETTE dominated by iron red, puce, and an unusual iridescent green
• DECORATION painted flowers, untrained landscapes with buildings, chinoiseries, and Classical figures; applied flowers
Marks
This mark was enamelled in red
Doccia (est. 1737)BODY
• grey, somewhat crude paste with distinctive, thin, sticky-looking glaze
• PALL I I E dominated by iron red and puce
• DECORATION moulded low-relief Classical figures, detailed in bright colours and gilding; Chinese cockerels; red peonies; transfer-printing and stencilling
• FIGURES slip-cast, modelled with stong musculature

Vienna
After unsuccessful attempts to make porcelain, Claudius Innocentius Du Paquier (d.1751) bribed the Meissen arcanist Christoph Conrad Hunger (active c.1717-48) to come to Vienna in 1717 to teach him the secret formula. Hunger’s expertise proved to be limited, so Du Paquier employed Bottger’s kilnmaster Samuel Stolzel (d.1737) in 1719, and the factory made its first successful hard-paste porcelain.
THE DU PAQUIER PERIOD: 1719-44
The shapes of Du Paquier’s wares arc similar to early Meissen, as they are copied from Baroque silver and are of symmetrical form embellished with scrollwork. The factory actory also made some original items: tall beakers, sometimes with moulded borders and usually on a narrow foot; bottles or flasks applied with masks or modelled with animal-head spouts; and double-handled beakers on large, oval trembleuse stands.
Flower decoration was copied from Chinese and Japanese wares with a palette dominated by iron red, green and manganese purple; contemporary Meissen wares are much closer to the originals. Vienna, however, pioneered the use of European flower decoration on porcelain c.1730. At first these were precisely painted in the style of botanical engravings, but from c.1740 to 1745 they arc smaller and scattered, with much freer brushwork. Another innovation was the use of black, puce, or iron-red monochrome for battle and hunting scenes and chinoiserie; black monochrome, known as “Schwarzlot” (”black lead”), was a common technique among the Hausmaler who worked for the factory. These scenes were often enclosed by borders or cartouches of Baroque scrollwork with Laub- and Bandelwerk, (”leaf- and strapwork”) ornament.
FIRST STATE PERIOD: 1744-1841
Although the earls Vienna wares were successful, the factory’s finances were always precarious. In 1744 Du Paquier sold the factory to the Austrian state, which had been supporting it for many years. Because its financial troubles might
have been due to over-production, the
factory did not introduce any new designs
until c.1750. From this date, wares and figures were made in the fashionable Rococo style. The paste was improved c.1749 with the use of a much finer clay imported from Hungary.
With the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756 there was a new influx to Vienna of Meissen craftsmen who influenced the style of decoration; typical themes were scattered European flowers, unframed monochrome landscapes, and scenes within cartouches and paintings in the manner of Boucher, Watteau, and Terriers.
The greatest innovation of this period was the
wide variety of figures, particularly those modelled
by Johann Josef Niedermayer (d.1784), chief modeller from 17 47
. A series of dwarfs copied from engravings by the French printmaker Jacques Callot (1592-1635) is particularly notable. Many were left in the white, while others were painted in very pale colours such as lilac
lemon leon yellow. The bases arc usually a simple pad shape, and arc frequently embellished with a wavy gilt border around the bottom edge.
THE SORGENTHAL PERIOD: 1784–c.1830
After several financial problems at the factory Conrad Sorgel von Sorgenthal was appointed director in 1784. Phasing out the Rococo style in favour of refined Neoclassicism, was responsible for the production of
superb wares equalled only by the Berlin factory. Simple, geometric forms were adopted in line with the severe Neo-classical style, and urn and amphorae shapes were directly copied from antique pieces excavated at Pompeii and Herculaneum. The factory was particularly famous for its tete-a-tete services and solitaires.
The decoration of Vienna wares was among the finest of the period. Coloured grounds with sumptuous gilding and rich painting meant that none of the white body of the porcelain was left showing. Vienna is especially associated with raised gilding with tooled architectural ornament. From 1791, following the example of Sevres, the chemist Josef Leithner developed brilliant ground colours, in particular a claret and a dark blue. The overall effect was enhanced by the fine painting of Classical subjects, topographical views, and botanical Subjects in central or reserved panels. The greatest exponent of botanical subjects was Josef Nigg (active 1800-43), whose most celebrated works are minutely painted flower still-lifes on rectangular plaques.
Figures were made on a limited scale at the end of the 18th century. Generally in biscuit porcelain, they were based on Classical sculptures and Pompeian paintings, or were busts of the imperial family and such luminaries as the composer Haydn. The most important modeller was Anton Grassi (1755-1807), who for several months in 1792 visited Rome, where he sketched and noted the recently excavated Classical sculpture.
After the death of Sorgenthal, Matthias Niedermayer (d.1827) became director. The factory was still producing Neo-classical-style wares, but by the 1830s the restrained 18th-century style had been replaced by the heavier, rounded shapes that characterize the Biedermeier taste. Painters continued to embellish plaques, trays, services, and vases with copies of Old Masters, and original botanical, topographical, and Classical compositions; however, the overall decoration is less rich (often with areas of white porcelain showing) and slightly poorer in execution.
AFTER c.1830
Although it had encountered various problems from the beginning of the 19th century from c.1830 the Vienna

factory entered a serious period of decline, producing inexpensive, rather poor-quality porcelain with transfer-printed decoration to keep up with demand and to try to compete with mass-produced goods, particularly those made in Bohemia. Attempts were made to turn it into an art institute and a model factory, but in 1864 Emperor Francis Joseph ordered its closure.
Subsequently, large quantities of undecorated Vienna porcelain, some dating back to the beginning of the 19th century, were sold off to other factories and decorators. Such wares were decorated in the Classical Revival style of the Sorgenthal period, with heavy gilt borders, Classical motifs, and topographical scenes, often reserved on a claret ground. As the wares were made at the Vienna factory, they bear the underglaze blue shield mark of Vienna and on this basis could be mistaken as original; however, the decoration is much less refined and sometimes verges on extremely coarse. These wares are now described as “Vienna” pieces.
Numerous firms in Bohemia, Silesia, and Germany (particularly Dresden and Thuringia) made their own wares in the Vienna style during the last quarter of the 19th century. The Augarten Factory (est. 1922), in Vienna, continues to reproduce earlier Vienna porcelain, mostly in the Neo-classical and Biedermeier styles; its products are also marked with the underglaze blue shield.
1719-44
• BODY creamy-white hard paste; smoky, thin glaze with greenish hue
• STYLE heavy Baroque forms and dense, symmetrical decoration
• PALETTE iron red, green, and manganese purple for Oriental flowers; pale, delicate colours for European flowers; black, puce, and iron-red monochrome
• DI CORATION Oriental and European flowers,
chinoiseries; battle, hunting, and mythological scenes; latticework and Laub- und Bandelwerk decoration
1744–84
• BODY greyish hard paste; white and glassy glaze
• DECORATION ION European flowers, monochrome landscapes, copies of French and Dutch paintings
• FIGURES left white or painted in pale colours
• BASES pad, sometimes with a wavy gilt border
Marks
This mark was made in underglaze blue from c.1749; it was sometimes impressed mid-1740s
1784—c.1830
• BODY warmer-coloured hard paste
• STYLE Nco-classical, rich Empire, and Biedermeier
• DECORATION raised gilding; claret and dark blue grounds; mythological and Classical scenes and topographical views

Meissen
The attempts by Count Marcolini, director of Meissen from 1774, to improve the quality of Meissen porcelain were not entirely successful, and at the beginning of the 19th century the factory was still in decline. There were several reasons for this: competition from other porcelain factories in Europe, mass production, and the effects of the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). When Marcolini retired in 18 14, production was at a level j t high enough to keep the factory open.
Until the mid-19th century mass production grew steadily, thus reducing costs and meeting demand. From the 1820s the factory kept pace with new developments by using “round” kilns that led to a fourfold increase in production, and introducing new techniques and products. In the late 1820s gloss-gilding was introduced; this inexpensive method of decoration used gold mixed in a solution, which was applied to the porcelain. The time-consuming method of hand-pressing clay into moulds to produce plates with moulded decoration was replaced by pouring slip into glass moulds. One of the new mass-produced items was the lithophane (a thin, translucent plaque with moulded decoration that can be viewed by transmitted light), made from 1829, featuring religious or sentimental subjects.
The 19th-century international exhibitions popularized both new and historical styles by displaying artifacts from different cultures and civilizations, and manufacturers copied these objects using new techniques. Taste was now led by the bourgeoisie, and manufacturers’ output became more diverse to meet demand. More than one fashion was often popular at any one time, so 19th-century objects often display a bizarre combination of styles. The Biedermeier style was introduced c.1830; wares are similar in form to earlier Neo-classical pieces but are heavier, and have less elaborate decoration, often being painted with topographical views.
From the early 1830s the Rococo style was revived, and Meissen enjoyed a renaissance owing to its re-use from the late 1840s of 18th-century figure moulds. Rococo Revival figures and wares were greatly
in demand and formed the bulk of the factory’s production during the second half of the 19th century. Produced under the supervision of the chief modeller, Ernst August Leuteritz (1818-93), these figures are of Such typical 18th-century subjects as shepherds and shepherdesses, the aristocracy, and allegorical figures of the Seasons and the Four Continents. They can be distinguished from the originals by their hard, shiny gilding, harsh colours, and overelaborate decoration, such as intricate lacework, made by dipping real lace into the paste. The most notable Meissen products in other revival styles made during the second half of the 19th century include plates and cups and saucers of the 1840s, moulded or painted with Gothic arches and tracery patterns, and blue-ground krater vases painted with Classical scenes imitating medieval and Renaissance enamels. From the 1860s large-scale Renaissance Revival vases, often painted with flowers and blue-ground sections and with curling snake handles, became increasingly popular. From the 1870s the factory produced figures in contemporary costume, although these were outweighed by the number of Rococo and Neo-classical reproductions.
KEY FACTS
• BODY pure white hard-paste porcelain with a distinctive hard, glassy glaze
• STYLES Empire, Biedermeier, Rococo Revival, Neo-classical, Renaissance and Gothic Revivals
• PALETTE harsh versions of 18th-century colours, such as a strong pink and a yellowish green; figures covered completely with paint; hard, shiny gloss-gilding
• DECORATION encrusted flowers; topographical views on Biedermeier wares
Example
mythological figure group of a maiden sitting on a Neoclassical stool, binding Cupid’s wings with a ribbon, was
produced using a model that had originally been made by Christian Gottlieb Juchtzer, one of the modellers working at Meissen in the Neo-
classical style during the late 18th century The rather harsh palette, so typical of 19th-century Meissen figures and wares,
is especially
evident in the
red drapery over
the attendant’s
shoulder, which would never have been used on an 18th-century figure.

Tin-glazed earthenware has been produced in The Netherlands since the end of the 15th century. Introduced by immigrant Italian craftsmen who settled in Antwerp (c.1500), the techniques and the decorative style gradually spread north during the troubled years of the 1560s and 1570s. While many potteries were established at Haarlem, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam, it was the town of Delft that rose to prominence in the mid-17th century and from which the term “Delftware” is derived.
THE INFLUENCE OF ITALY
During the early to mid-16th century, potters produced what is known as the “Italian-Antwerp” style of wares, which were decorated with pine-cone motifs, scrolling stylized foliage, geometric patterns, and, later in the century, strapwork and half-shaded petal borders (sometimes termed “false gadroons”). Designs are often painted in high-fired colours copper green, yellow, and ochre) and usually boldly Outlined in blackish cobalt blue. Early wares include dishes, plates, albarelli (drug jars), and syrup-jugs. Although small household objects such as jugs or double-eared pots were probably made in large numbers, few are extant. Albarelli have survived in some quantity and can be recognized by their pronounced flanged bases and crisp mouth-rims. From around the middle of the 16th century the tortuous strapwork and adapted grotesque ornament of the Fontainebleau School in France are seen on more accomplished wares. Northern designers such as Vredeman de Vries of Leeuwarden and Cornelis Bos of Antwerp were also used as sources for this type of decoration.
Time and distance, however, gradually diluted both these influences (although they did not entirely disappear for another century). By the end of the 16th century new, more humble patterns had appeared, employing simple repeated motifs such as dashes, chevrons, or zigzags, and concentric circles enclosing stylized leaves, fruit, or flowers. Tiles were also made in large quantities, first for floors and later for walls.
Decoration was usually in blue but also in polychrome, and comprised mainly stylized leaves, flowers, and such fruit as pomegranates, and, later, figures with small corner motifs. The most important centres of production for tiles were Rotterdam, Haarlem, Delft, Gouda, Utrecht, and, later, Harlingen and Makkum.
During the period from 1600 to 1650, the influence of Italian maiolica was still felt. Decorative subjects were extensive and included shadowed foliage, whole and sliced fruit in the manner of Venice or Faenza, scrolling bryony-type flowers, zigzag patterns, and concentric bands of simplified foliage encircling formal flower-heads that resembled “targets”. Faenza-style putti and fern-type borders, leaping hounds, equestrian subjects, isolated standing figures, and blue-dash borders were also popular. However, a more local type of decoration that included religious subjects, shipping scenes, and milkmaids was gradually introduced.
THE BLUE-AND-WHITE PERIOD
From the beginning of the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.) imported blue-and-white Chinese porcelain, known as kraak porcelain, into The Netherlands. The name derives from the Portuguese carracks, or merchant ships, that carried large cargoes
of Chinese export porcelain, two of which were captured by the Dutch in 1602 and 1604. During the early years of the 17th century, the type of Chinese ornament featured on this porcelain was introduced on Delftware. Within a few decades the high-fired Italian maiolica colours were largely displaced by a palette of blue and white, a switch that demonstrates the growing passion for blue-and-white Chinese porcelain.
As the Dutch brewing industry declined, many of the disused breweries in Delft were turned over to the potters, and from c.1650 Delft became the most important centre of production for tin-glazed earthenware. Factories at
this time included the Porceleynen Schotel and the Porceleynen Lampetkan.
Probably the single most important impetus for the vast increase in production of tin-glazed earthenwares was the cessation of imports of Chinese porcelain between 1645 and 1650, when the kilns in Jingdezhen were devastated by the invading Manchus. Between c.1650 and c.1680 the number of potteries in Delft rose from eight to nearly thirty. Production of blue-and-white “porcelain”, as the Dutch termed their tin-glazed earthenware, focused on reproducing Chinese wares made during the reign of Emperor Wanli ( 1,573-1619) and Transitional porcelain (1620-44), or kraak porcelain. Decoration also included Dutch landscapes and biblical subjects. Frederik van Frytom (1632-1702) was the best-known painter of plaques, plates, and dishes decorated with detailed landscapes, with dark-toned foregrounds, lighter-hued middle grounds, and hazy backgrounds. Tiles, drug jars, ewers and other hollow-wares, dishes, and flower-holders, some of great complexity (such as tall tulip vases), were produced. The most important factories included The Metal Pot, whose owner Adriacnus Kocks (d. 1701) supplied wares to the court of William and Mary, and The Rose, The Axe, The Three Bells, The White Star, The Greek A, and The Peacock. The still-life paintings of luscious flower displays by Dutch artists such as Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer and Jan van Huysum were very influential on the design of Delftware at this time.
POLYCHROME WARES
From c.1683 imports of Chinese porcelain were resumed, affecting the production of Delftware, which was aimed at the same market. From the end of the century, potters in Delft began to experiment with a polychrome palette. Wares follow the colourful famille-verte (green, red, yellow, purple, and red) and famille-rose (an opaque pink, white, and yellow) export porcelains made in China, which sometimes employed gilding. Another important influence were the Japanese Imari and Kakiemon porcelains, which were imported into The Netherlands in the middle of the 17th century while the Chinese imports were suspended. Dutch polychome wares tended to be restricted to a palette of yellow, blue, purple, green, red, and black. An important producer of polychrome wares in Delft was The Greek A factory (est. 1658), run by the Van Eenhoorn family.
Most of the wares produced during the 18th century are somewhat mundane, decorated with small repeating
patterns. Biblical subjects, plates painted with images of the months, and whaling and seal-hunting scenes were all popular forms of decoration. Production during the 18th century was extremely diverse and included wall plaques, flower-holders, coffee and tea services, butter-tubs, drug jars, candlesticks, garnitures or vases, punch-bowls, dishes, and small models of shoes. There were more than 30 potteries in Delft in the late-17th and 18th centuries, some specializing in tile production, although it seems that only two of these continued production in the 19th century. The increased popularity of English creamware (cream-coloured earthenware) caused the demise of the tin-glazed industry in The Netherlands from the early 19th century.
• BODY extremely fine, soft, and generally thinly potted
• GLAZE thick, white, and with a “peppered” effect due to air bubbles exploding during firing, seen most clearly on the backs of dishes
• STYLE until c.1600: Italianate/Fontainebleau; c.1610-20: Chinese kraak designs; c.1620-50: local styles; from c.1650: Chinese-style blue and white; from the early 18th century: an increase in polychrome in the style of Chinese and Japanese wares
• CENTRES OF PRODUCTION Delft, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Middelburg, and Rotterdam
• COLLECTING the choice for the collector is wide since so much was made; the condition wit] vary, but expect to find chipping on the rims of wares