Description:
This colorful example of a garniture vase is composed of slip cast sections of white feldspathic stoneware, ornamented with female heads on the base, and painted with polychrome overglaze enamels. The back is undecorated and would be positioned against a wall. The form of the vase with its four stacked sections and spouts for flowers is reminiscent of Dutch Delftware tulip vases of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The architectural top portion with its flaring roof line is likely inspired by Chinese pagodas, like ones that can be seen in popular English garden architectural books. Yet the decoration is decidedly English, replete with four views of the English countryside. Vases in this design are known in earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. Ceramic scholars have theorized that this vase was manufactured either by William and John Turner of Longton, Staffordshire, before 1806, or by Richard Woolley also of Longton, who leased the Turners’ old factory in 1809 until his own bankruptcy in 1811. Both of these factories excelled at the production of a fine white felspathic stoneware called “pearl” in the time period. This design can also be seen in the 1803 Don Pottery pattern book, pl. 52, no. 223, where it is called a Chinese Temple for Flowers. This design was likley created in creamware, and a partial chalcedony vase attributed to the Don Pottery is illustrated in John D. Griffin, The Don Pottery, 1801-1893 (2001). William Billingsley of Mansfield, England, has been suggested as the decorator of the vase. From 1795 onwards William Billingsley bought porcelain and pottery in the white from various manufacturers such as Coalport and Chamberlain’s Worcester to decorate it. Although he is best known for his painted floral designs, Billingsley also executed very competent English landscape views often with a heavy use of yellow enamel ground color. But without any direct evidence, attributions to specific decorators are at this time speculative.
Label Text:
Building a Collection, September 27, 2025-February 23, 2025: Donated by Historic Deerfield’s first assistant curator, Joseph Peter Spang III (1934-2020), this impressive, stacked vase of four graduated parts formed the central section of a three- or five-part garniture (a matched set of ornamental ceramic vases). Displayed on chimneypieces, cupboards, tables or over doors, they 'garnished' the interior and so enhanced the status of the owner. With its stacked sections and spouts for flowers, the vase's form is reminiscent of Dutch Delftware tulip vases of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The architectural top portion with its flaring roof line draws inspiration from Chinese pagodas, often illustrated in popular English garden books. Yet the decoration is decidedly Western, replete with four picturesque views of the English countryside.
Peter Spang worked in the museum's curatorial department from 1959 to 1986, and subsequently served as a trustee of the museum until his death in 2020. Peter generously gifted hundreds of objects—from ceramics and furniture to architectural pattern books and design manuals—to the museum and library, and served as an enthusiastic ambassador for Historic Deerfield's mission and collections.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2021.23.3 |
