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Ewer
Lucas, Daniel - Enlarge image
Ewer
- Place of origin:
Stoke-on-Trent, England (made)
- Date:
ca. 1850 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Lucas, Daniel (II), born 1813 (scenic panels, painter)
Copeland & Co. (manufacturer) - Materials and Techniques:
Porcelain, painted in enamels and gilded
- Credit Line:
Transferred from the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street
- Museum number:
2775-1901
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 122f, case 4
Object Type
This ornate ewer was intended primarily for display and also served as a vehicle for Copeland to show off the skill of his decorators. The classical shape is reminiscent of French Renaissance forms. Different views of Italian lakeside scenery are painted on each side.
People
The firm of W.T. Copeland was awarded a prize medal for the 'general excellence' of its porcelain at the Great Exhibition. Daniel Lucas senior (1788-1867) painted landscapes, particularly for the Derby porcelain factory. His youngest son, also Daniel (born about 1818), who had been apprenticed at Derby, also became a scenic painter on china. He worked for periods at the Coalport and Copeland factories, and later became a freelance artist.
Places
Although this particular object does not appear in the catalogue illustrations of Copeland's exhibits at the Great Exhibition, a vase with similar gilt ornamentation and with scenes similar to the paintings of the French artist Watteau (1684-1721) is shown. For the next 50 years the ewer was in the collection of the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street, London, before being transferred with many other items to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1901. It is listed in an 1855 catalogue of pottery and porcelain as 'a single-handled porcelain vase, gilt and painted with landscapes. The ground was in a colour called 'Queen's'.
