Tureen
- Place of origin:
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
Chelsea Porcelain factory (makers)
- Materials and Techniques:
Soft-paste porcelain, painted in enamels
- Credit Line:
Given by Stephen, 6th Baron Lilford, in accordance with the wishes of his brother John, 5th Baron Lilford
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
World Ceramics, room 145, case 50
- Download image
In terms of aesthetic and social ambition, one early English porcelain factory stood head and shoulders above the rest: Chelsea, where this tureen was made. Founded by Nicholas Sprimont, an extremely gifted goldsmith, modeller and designer from Liège, Chelsea aimed at the top end of the British market, and gained aristocratic and ambassadorial support in its attempts to rival imports from the royal factories of Meissen and Sèvres. Meissen had been the first to make trompe-l'oeil dining wares in vegetable or animal shapes, but it was left to Chelsea (and some of the French tin-glazed earthenware factories) to further explore the idea.
Physical description
Tureen, cover, and stand in the form of a chicken, soft-paste porcelain painted in enamels.
Place of Origin
London, England (made)
Date
ca. 1755 (made)
Artist/maker
Chelsea Porcelain factory (makers)
Materials and Techniques
Soft-paste porcelain, painted in enamels
Dimensions
Height: 25.0 cm without stand, Width: 35.0 cm without stand, Depth: 22.0 cm without stand
[Stand] Height: 47 cm, Width: 40 cm, Depth: 2.5 cm
Descriptive line
Soup tureen with cover and stand, in the form of a chicken, soft-paste porcelain painted in enamels, Chelsea Porcelain factory, London, ca. 1755
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Baker, Malcolm and Richardson, Brenda, eds. A Grand Design : The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: V&A Publications, 1997. 431 p., ill. ISBN 1851773088.
Strengthened by the acquisition in 1901 of the ceramics collection assembled in the 1850s for the Museum of Practical Geology, the Ceramics Department continued to benefit from individual bequests made with an awareness of the Museum's work on English porcelain factories. This charming tureen was probably the piece offered at the 1755 sale of Chelsea porcelain, where it was described as "A most beautiful tureen in the shape of a HEN AND CHICKENS, BIG AS THE LIFE in a curious dish adorn'd with sunflowers." Although apparently based on a print by the English artist Francis Barlow, the basic idea derives from the naturalistically modelled tablewares made during the 1740s at the great Meissen porcelain factory (founded 1710) near Dresden. The Meissen type is here translated into the English soft-paste material in which the sharpness of detailing characteristic of Meissen is muted, an effect much appreciated by connoisseurs of early English porcelain.
Lit. Honey, 1948a, p. 58 and plate 14B
HILARY YOUNG
Exhibition History
Deception: Ceramics and Imitation (Victoria and Albert Museum 25/05/2013-05/01/2014)
Precious: Objects and Changing Values (The Millennium Galleries, Sheffield 02/04/2001-24/06/2001)
A Grand Design - The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum (Victoria and Albert Museum 12/10/1999-16/01/2000)
Materials
Soft-paste porcelain; Enamel
Techniques
Painted
Subjects depicted
Flowers; Leaf; Hens; Chickens; Chicks
Categories
Porcelain; Containers; Ceramics; Tableware & cutlery
Collection code
CER
