Description:
English delft plate in blue, green, and purple, decorated with a balloning scene. On September 15, 1784, Vincenzo Lunardi, an attache in the Neopolitan Embassy in London, made the first successful balloon ascent (containing hydrogen rather than hot air) in England, from Moorsfield (in the city of London) to Ware, Hertfordshire. The scene at Moorsfield that day was chaotic as a crowd of over 150,000, including the Prince of Wales (the future George IV), witnessed the flight of the hydrogen-filled balloon. A wooden scaffold crowded with spectators collapsed, and some onlookers took to pelting the occupants of carriages who blocked their view. Lunardi ascended in a square mesh basket outfitted with two wings and two oars with which he attempted to control his flight (horizontally by flapping with wings; vertically by rowing with oars.) Accompanying Lunardi on his flight were a cat, a dog, a pigeon in a cage, a bottle of wine, cold chicken, and other edibles. A barrage of prints, commemorative ceramics, balloon wigs, coats, hats, and bonnets celebrated this ascent. This plate was inspired by an aquatint, "A View of Mr. Lunardi's Balloon," by Francis Jukes, published in 1784. The rim has a light blue feathered edge and neoclassical festoons, including swags in dots and crosses and leaf sprays made up of blue dots. The well has a V-shaped flock of flying birds and a green balloon over a basket with two oars or paddles and a flag; over four tall trees done in tiers of strokes like layered palm fronds bending over towards the top, building, and fence. The very first balloon flight was made by Vincenzo Lunardi on 15 September 1784. The "Daredevil Aeronaut" began his ascent at Moorfields Artillery Grounds in central London before a crowd of 200,000. He was accompanied by a cat, a dog, and a caged pigeon. He traveled north and made one stop at Welham Green, where the airsick cat was released. The balloon set to rest in Standon Green between the hamlet of Ware and Puckeridge in Hertfordshire. Commemorating the flight, the road junction at Welham Green was and is still named Balloon Corner. A number of subsequent flights were made by Lunardi from St. Geoerge's Field in Southwark and in Glasgow. F. H. Garner found a number of fragments of such plates in pottery waste tips in Lambeth indicating a Lambeth attribution to the Lambeth High Street and Glasshouse Street factories. The nearby pottery at Lambeth joined other tradesmen and artists in creating a memento of the day and of the new and exciting 'Balloon-mania', which had gripped the population. It is very rare to find a charger decorated with this subject, with plates being more common.
Subjects:
Pottery; glaze (coating by location) Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+69.0007 |
