Vase
ca. 1890-1905 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
'If Martin-ware [… has] not the transparency of porcelain nor the elaborately and costly ornamentation of Sèvres [it is] pure and honest art work.'
This is how the art critic Cosmo Monkhouse described the output of the Martin Brothers' studio in The Magazine of Art in 1882. Eccentric founder Robert Wallace Martin and his siblings Charles, Walter and Edwin epitomised the energy and experimentation of the nineteenth-century art pottery movement. They regarded pottery as a means of artistic expression, rather than a product of industrial manufacture, and were particularly inspired by the rustic flora and fauna forms of the sixteenth-century potter Bernard Palissy as well as Japanese arts. This vase is typical of the Martin Brothers' later work and shows the influence of the emerging European Art Nouveau style, inspired by natural forms such as seeds and plants.
The incised mark on the base 'London' is typical for the workshop but the framed impressed mark 'MARTIN' on this pot is previously unknown. The material and decoration closely relates to examples illustrated in Malcolm Haslam, The Martin Brothers Potters, London, 1978 (pp.119 and 155).
This is how the art critic Cosmo Monkhouse described the output of the Martin Brothers' studio in The Magazine of Art in 1882. Eccentric founder Robert Wallace Martin and his siblings Charles, Walter and Edwin epitomised the energy and experimentation of the nineteenth-century art pottery movement. They regarded pottery as a means of artistic expression, rather than a product of industrial manufacture, and were particularly inspired by the rustic flora and fauna forms of the sixteenth-century potter Bernard Palissy as well as Japanese arts. This vase is typical of the Martin Brothers' later work and shows the influence of the emerging European Art Nouveau style, inspired by natural forms such as seeds and plants.
The incised mark on the base 'London' is typical for the workshop but the framed impressed mark 'MARTIN' on this pot is previously unknown. The material and decoration closely relates to examples illustrated in Malcolm Haslam, The Martin Brothers Potters, London, 1978 (pp.119 and 155).
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | stonware, incised painted and glazed |
| Brief description | Small squat earthenware vase, made by Martin Bros., c.1890-1905. Integral handles to the neck, body decorated with incised abstract organic motifs in green glaze. Incised mark on the base 'London'. Impressed mark 'MARTIN' |
| Physical description | Small squat earthenware vase, integral handles to the neck, body decorated wth incised abstract organic motifs in green glaze. Incised mark on the base 'London'. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Credit line | Given by Mr. Chris Thomas |
| Literary reference | |
| Summary | 'If Martin-ware [… has] not the transparency of porcelain nor the elaborately and costly ornamentation of Sèvres [it is] pure and honest art work.' This is how the art critic Cosmo Monkhouse described the output of the Martin Brothers' studio in The Magazine of Art in 1882. Eccentric founder Robert Wallace Martin and his siblings Charles, Walter and Edwin epitomised the energy and experimentation of the nineteenth-century art pottery movement. They regarded pottery as a means of artistic expression, rather than a product of industrial manufacture, and were particularly inspired by the rustic flora and fauna forms of the sixteenth-century potter Bernard Palissy as well as Japanese arts. This vase is typical of the Martin Brothers' later work and shows the influence of the emerging European Art Nouveau style, inspired by natural forms such as seeds and plants. The incised mark on the base 'London' is typical for the workshop but the framed impressed mark 'MARTIN' on this pot is previously unknown. The material and decoration closely relates to examples illustrated in Malcolm Haslam, The Martin Brothers Potters, London, 1978 (pp.119 and 155). |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.98-2012 |
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| Record created | October 23, 2012 |
| Record URL |
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