Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 139, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Tobacco Jar and Cover

ca. 1867-70 (made)
Artist/Maker
Mafra Workshop (made)
Place of origin
Caldas da Rainha (made)

Jar and cover of white earthenware. Bulbous body with tall wide cylindrical neck and flat cover. Decorated with applied shells and fauna including a frog, a lizard, a snake, a moth and a beetle. The cover is similarly decorated with a moth, beetle, a sea-worm and a shell, the knob formed by a lizard crawling over a large shell.


Object details

Categories
Ceramics
Earthenware
Object type
Tobacco jar and cover
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Tobacco Jar
  • Cover
Materials and techniques
White earthenware with moulded, modelled and applied decoration painted in brown and green under a clear glaze
Earthenware
Moulded
Applied Work
Glazed
Modelled
Brief description
Jar and cover, white earthenware with moulded, modelled and applied decoration painted in brown and green under a clear glaze, Manuel Mafra, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal, ca.1867-70
Physical description
Jar and cover of white earthenware. Bulbous body with tall wide cylindrical neck and flat cover. Decorated with applied shells and fauna including a frog, a lizard, a snake, a moth and a beetle. The cover is similarly decorated with a moth, beetle, a sea-worm and a shell, the knob formed by a lizard crawling over a large shell.
Dimensions
  • Height: 18.4cm
  • Diameter: 12.7cm
Marks and inscriptions
An anchor above 'M. Mafra / CALDAS / PORTUGAL' (Impressed)
Credit line
Given by H. M. Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851
Object history
Designed for the Paris International Exhibition of 1867.

Manuel Cipriano Gomes (1831-1905) was born in a village near Mafra. In 1850, he moved to Caldas da Rainha, a spa town in central west Portugal known for ceramic making. He adopted the name Mafra and set up his workshop in 1853, having purchased the existing workshop of Maria dos Cacos, for whom he had at first worked. In about 1870, he gained royal patronage. In 1887, his son Edouardo Augusto joined the business for a time but left for a political career. Mafra died in 1905. The artisanal workshop specialised in zoomorphic vessels and wares inspired by the work of Palissy (France, 16th century).
Subjects depicted
Reptiles
Insects
Shells
Bibliographic references
  • José Quieros, Ceramica Portuguesa, Lisbon, 1948
  • Katz, Marshall P., 'Portuguese Palissy Ware', New York, 1999
  • Cristina Ramos e Horta, 'Manuel Mafra 1829-1905' in 'Manuel Mafra: Mestre na Cerâmica das Caldas', Caldas da Rainha, Portugal, 2009
  • Cristina Ramos e Horta, 'Manuel Mafra Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum', in 'Artis: Revista de História da Arte e Ciências do Património', no.1, Portugal, 2013
  • Cristina Ramos e Horta, 'Portuguese Ceramicist Manuel Mafra: Nature, Exoticism and Luxury' in Journal of the Decorative Arts Society, no.37, 2013
Other number
HMC.35 - H.M.C. Loan no.
Collection
Ceramics Collection
Accession number
C.621&A-1921

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O308329/tobacco-jar-and-mafra-workshop/
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