Description:
One of a pair of English delft plates decorated with an English landscape scene with two tall women standing by a house surrounded by tall trees with sponged foliage. Similar scenes of figures of men and women in contempory costume in rural landscapes with this type of tall, tufted trees with long spindly trunks are characteristic of a well-known group of Bristol delft associated with the name of John Bowen. The attribution is based on a dish illustrated in by Hugh Owen in his "Two Centuries of Ceramic Art in Bristol" published in 1873. His Fig. 123 & 124 depict a large dish with a similar landscape scene to our example with the back inscribed "Ye 1st: Sept. 1761 Bowen. fecit". This dish was loaned by its owner Henry Willett to the opening English pottery and porcelain exhibit at Alexandra Palace in June 1873; the building was destroyed by fire within a week of its opening and most of the exhibit, including this dish, was destroyed. Research has shown that a John Bowen, a native of Bristol, was apprenticed at Limekiln Lane Factory in 1734, probably completing his apprenticeship in 1741. After Limekiln closed in 1746, there is evidence to support the theory that Bowen moved to Redcliff Back factory since there are many 'Bowen' scenes on plates and bowls with the bianco-sopra-bianco patterns associated with Redcliff Back. Many pieces in this style have survived, ranging from large punch bowls to puzzle-jugs, bottles, flower bricks, teapot stands, and tiles, with dated examples known between 1753 and 1766.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+70.117A |
