Vase thumbnail 1
Vase thumbnail 2
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Vase

1862 (made)
Artist/Maker
Ginori (manufacturer)
Place of origin
Doccia (made)

The Ginori company, founded in 1735 in Doccia near Florence, built its reputation on imitations of Italian lustred wares and maiolica of around 1500. Under the Marchese Lorenzo Ginori Lisci (d.1878), director from 1848, the pottery produced designs reflecting more varied and more contemporary tastes but also continued making its successful lustred wares. This vase shows their skill in applied, modelled forms combined with the contemporary taste for naturalism. It was selected as displaying the 'most taste and originality...' In 1896 the pottery came under the ownership of Giulio Richard who already owned other factories. Combined, the new company was known as the Società Ceramica Richard-Ginori.

Object details

Category
Ceramics
Object type
Vase
Materials and techniques
Porcelain with applied decoration in high relief
Porcelain
Brief description
Porcelain vase with applied decoration in high relief, Ginori, Italy (Doccia), 1862
Physical description
Porcelain vase with applied decoration in high relief
Dimensions
  • Height: 36cm
  • Diameter: 20cm
Marks and inscriptions
'Ginori', impressed '*' painted in gold
Gallery label
VASE

Ginori Company

Manufacturer

Italy (Doccia): 1862

Porcelain
with applied decoration

in high relief

8047-1862

This vase was in Ginori's display at the London 1862 Exhibition where they won a prize for reproductions of "antique Maiolica". The Ginori Company, founded in 1735, specialised in imitations of Italian maiolica of around 1500, particularly the modelled, relief forms of the Delia Robbia family. Under the Marchese Lorenzo Ginori Usci (d.1878), director from 1848, the pottery produced designs reflecting contemporary taste for naturalism in skilfully modelled forms. This vase was selected as displaying the "most taste and originality.. . ".

Given by Marchese Ginori
Credit line
Given by Marchese Ginori
Object history
In Ginori's display at the London 1862 Exhibition, Class XXXV, Italy, no. 2046
Summary
The Ginori company, founded in 1735 in Doccia near Florence, built its reputation on imitations of Italian lustred wares and maiolica of around 1500. Under the Marchese Lorenzo Ginori Lisci (d.1878), director from 1848, the pottery produced designs reflecting more varied and more contemporary tastes but also continued making its successful lustred wares. This vase shows their skill in applied, modelled forms combined with the contemporary taste for naturalism. It was selected as displaying the 'most taste and originality...' In 1896 the pottery came under the ownership of Giulio Richard who already owned other factories. Combined, the new company was known as the Società Ceramica Richard-Ginori.
Bibliographic references
  • Art Journal, 1862, p 232 Waring, J.B.: Masterpieces of Industrial Arts & Sculpture at the International Exhibition, 1862, London, 1863, Vol 1, pl 77
  • Frescobaldi Malenchini, Livia ed. With Balleri, Rita and Rucellai, Oliva, ‘Amici di Doccia Quaderni, Numero VII, 2013, The Victoria and Albert Museum Collection’, Edizioni Polistampa, Firenze, 2014 p. 122, Cat. 114 114. Long-necked vase with birds and branches in relief on a blue ground circa 1862 blue porcelain with white applications h 35,8; diam. 19,5 cm on the back a gold star; traces of red applied after firing inv. 8047-1862 gift: Marquis Lorenzo Ginori Lisci With slight variations, the shape of this vase is a repetition of the models Ginori was making for its range of imitation Chinese and Japanese porcelains (for example, Museo di Doccia inv. 436, 705, 1043), but it is also typical of the production of Iznik. However, the decoration with white birds and sprigs in relief applied to the blue clay background was a novelty presented for the first time by Ginori at the Florence Exhibition in 1861 (AMD, Alphonse Bernoud, Album di fotografie di prodotti artistici Ginori esposti all’Esposizione Nazionale, 1861). The same model was also selected to represent the Ginori factory at London in 1862. The vase was shown in two illustrated publications of the era and appears in the list of the objects sent to London where it is described as a vase made of blue clay with applications in white porcelain (AMD, arm. 1, palch. 3, cart. 153, Nota degli oggetti spediti dalla Manifattura Ginori di Doccia […] Londra).We also know that it was originally selected by the South Kensington Museum to be purchased (cat. 126) but was later donated by Ginori together with a plate (cat. 125). The decoration was inspired by the Sèvres porcelain decorated using the pâte-sur-pâte technique. In the archives of the Museo di Doccia there are two photographic reproductions of Sèvres vases which have the name of the photographer, Louis Robert, in the lower left hand corner, and the caption: “Exposition de Sèvres/ 1855”.The photographs, in fact, represent objects that were displayed in Paris in that year, two of which are decorated with the pâte-sur-pâte technique with birds and intertwined branches which were certainly the inspiration for the Doccia vase. The two Sèvres vases can be attributed to Léopold Jules Joseph Gely, one of the finest interpreters of this technique. In the Doccia version some of the parts in relief, like the leaves, do not completely adhere to the body of the vase and the birds project outwardly and have been consolidated by applying stucco after firing. It is likely that the various decorative elements were modeled by hand and then attached to the vase. On the other hand, the pâte-sur-pâte technique, which started to be used at Sèvres around 1848, involved the use of many layers of slip applied with a brush after waiting for the preceding layer to dry. A vase similar to this one was bought at the Exhibition by the famous art dealer W. Agnew for £8 (AMD, arm. 1, palch. 1, cart. 21, doc. 2296). O.R. Bibliography: WARING 1863, plate 77; THE ART JOURNAL ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE 1863, p. 232
Collection
Ceramics Collection
Accession number
8047-1862

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Record createdApril 27, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O228493/vase-ginori/
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