Description:
English delft fruit dish or fruit bowl decorated in blue with a blue coastal scene with a fort in the center, windmill, sailing ship, two small boats, and a man fishing in the foreground; a band of open, interlocking circles outlined in blue on the inside and outside around the rim; and floral sprays around the outside curvature over an applied, slightly flared circular foot ring. Traditionally fruits for the dessert were brought to the table and displayed in woven baskets made of reed and willow. In the 18th century English potters offered replacements for those fragile baskets with more sturdy ceramic pieces. The shape itself seemingly derives from Japanese Kakiemon bowls of the late 17th or early 18th century. According to Christian Jorg, this kind of rim was specifically developed for the European Market. Pierced and molded ceramic basketwork became a visual signal or cue for dessert wares. Late 18th century pattern books from the Wedgwood, Leeds, Whitehead, and Castelford potteries identify comparable bowls with pierced sides as fruit baskets. Originally, fruit dishes with pierced interlocking circles were thought to have been made only in Dublin, but recent research has shown that the form was also produced in London, Bristol, and Liverpool. This dish was in the collection of Joseph Downs of Guilford, Connecticut, former curator of both the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC) and Winterthur.
Tags:
fishing Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+58.260 |
