Dish thumbnail 1
Dish thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 125c

Dish

1880-1885 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
This dish is one of the most celebrated of De Morgan's ceramics. Like all of his production other than tiles, it was made for show rather than for use. Although De Morgan returned to this image many times and the dish itself was made in Staffordshire, it is a unique work. He bought the dish in as a blank and it was decorated and then re-fired at his own workshop. The plain, rimless shape was especially suitable for elaborate pictorial decoration such as this.

People
William Frend De Morgan (1839-1917) was a friend of William Morris, and designed stained glass and tiles for Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. De Morgan established his own company, experimenting first with stained glass and then in the 1860s with ceramic production. He moved workshops from Chelsea to Merton Abbey in Wandsworth, London, and then to nearby Fulham. He spent many years acquiring the expertise to fire lustre glazes in the manner of 14th- and 15th-century ceramics from the Islamic world and Moorish Spain; blue, green and purple were favoured colours, under the same influence. From around 1907, owing to ill-health and changes in fashionable taste, he gradually ceased production and, over the last ten years of his life, he became a highly successful novelist.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Earthenware, painted in ruby and yellow lustres
Brief description
Dish, painted in ruby and yellow lustre with an antelope before an apple tree. English, 1882-88. Designed by William De Morgan.
Physical description
Saucer shaped dish painted in ruby and yellow lustres on a white slip, with an antelope standing before an apple tree and two fish in a reserve beneath. The antelope is painted in ruby lustre, and details like the apples on the trees, flowers and other motifs, in yellow lustre. On the reverse side are concentric circles in lustre painting and a border of formalised flowers around the edge.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 36.5cm
Dimensions checked: measured; 21/12/1998 by sf
Marks and inscriptions
'22' (reverse; impressing)
Gallery label
  • British Galleries: LUSTRE DISHES
    William De Morgan was one of the most innovative of the British art potters working between about 1870 and 1900 and he spent many years experimenting with original techniques. His passion was the development of pattern and colours inspired by historic Spanish and 'Persian' pottery. The antelope standing against a foliage background by the water's edge was a standard design in Persian lustre wares. Compare De Morgan's dish with the one on its left.(27/03/2003)
  • Dish 'Antelope Dish' William de Morgan, England, 832-1905 Given by Sydney Vacher Esq.(23/05/2008)
Credit line
Given by Sydney Vacher
Object history
Designed by William De Morgan (born in London, 1839, died there in 1917); the blank made in Staffordshire and decorated at the De Morgan works, probably at Merton Abbey, Wandsworth, London. Exhibited in Japan, 01/10/1992-05/05/1993.

Historical significance: The design and technique are based upon a mediaeval Persian dish. The antelope standing against a foliage background by the waters edge is a standard design in Persian lustre wares.
Production
The dish is a Staffordshire-made blank (maker unknown), bought in and decorated at the De Morgan pottery
Subjects depicted
Summary
Object Type
This dish is one of the most celebrated of De Morgan's ceramics. Like all of his production other than tiles, it was made for show rather than for use. Although De Morgan returned to this image many times and the dish itself was made in Staffordshire, it is a unique work. He bought the dish in as a blank and it was decorated and then re-fired at his own workshop. The plain, rimless shape was especially suitable for elaborate pictorial decoration such as this.

People
William Frend De Morgan (1839-1917) was a friend of William Morris, and designed stained glass and tiles for Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. De Morgan established his own company, experimenting first with stained glass and then in the 1860s with ceramic production. He moved workshops from Chelsea to Merton Abbey in Wandsworth, London, and then to nearby Fulham. He spent many years acquiring the expertise to fire lustre glazes in the manner of 14th- and 15th-century ceramics from the Islamic world and Moorish Spain; blue, green and purple were favoured colours, under the same influence. From around 1907, owing to ill-health and changes in fashionable taste, he gradually ceased production and, over the last ten years of his life, he became a highly successful novelist.
Bibliographic references
  • Pinkham, Roger. Catalogue of Pottery by William de Morgan. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973. p.39.
  • See Object Information file in Ceramics and Glass Section offices.
  • Bryant, Julius. Art and Design for all: The Victoria and Albert Museum . London: V&A publishing, 2011. p 218. ISBN 978 1 85177 666 5
Collection
Accession number
832-1905

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Record createdJune 22, 1998
Record URL
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