Description:
Set of five English pearlware, octagonal plates decorated in pink, green, orange, brown, purple, blue, and black over transfer prints depicting scenes from the "Prodigal Son." The prints (normally a set of six) are the same as those used on a teapot in HD's collection (HD 56.015) made by William Greatbatch (1735-1813), a well-known potter of the period who worked in Fenton, Staffordshire, and also worked for Thomas Whieldon and Josiah Wedgwood. According to David Barker, the parable of the Prodigal Son was a popular subject with the English public from the mid 18th century, after a set of six engravings of paintings by the French artist Sebastien le Clerc II was published in Paris in 1751 as the "Histoire de l'enfant prodique." English copies appeared over the next few years, one set by Dublin-born Richard Purcell (c.1720-1766), who came to London c.1755 and also used the pseudonyn Charles or Philip Corbutt, and another by an unknown printmaker, which were still being advertised for sale in 1775. The Prodigal Son prints which appear on Greatbatch's tea and coffee pots closely follow Purcell's six mezzotints; hairstyles and dress have been updated on Greatbatch's prints, but the general position, posture and attitudes of the figures are the same as are the furniture and other items. Others have thoughts these prints to be by Thomas Radford, and Leslie Grigsby notes that other factories also produced comtemporary imitations of these subjects. Each plate well has a painted transfer print with a phrase that describes the scene. Plate 1 in this series is inscribed "The Prodigal Son Receives his Patrimony" where the young man receives money and deeds from his father as his mother and brother sits around a table in a garden setting. Plate 2 is inscribed "The Prodigal Son Taking Leave" with the son saying goodbye to his father as his brother stands by the family home and the horses and a coachman await in the background beside a road goes off into the distance. Plate 3 is inscribed "The Prodigal Son in Excess" with the young man seated at a festive table with three woman and holding one of the women whose breasts are bare. Plate 4, "The Prodigal Son in Misery," depicts the result of his excesses, standing in a pig sty, bedraggled and broke. Plate 5, "The Prodigal Son returns Reclaim'd," shows the young man kneeling in front of his father seeking forgiveness, while people talk behind them, and in the distant left, a cow is being butchered to prepare for the feast. This set is missing Plate 6, "The Prodigal Son Feasted on his Return " where the young man is seated at a festive table with people eating, drinking, and listening to music to celebrate his return. Each plate rim has a painted dark pink line border and an eight-part garlanded swag.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+56.014.4 |
