Vase
1780-1790 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
A purely decorative vase, one that would have been displayed in a domestic interior, possibly on a mantelpiece, where it might have been set out with others.
Design & Designing
Wedgwood's move into vase production coincided with the fashionable world taking up the vase as a symbol of the new 'antique' style. The demand for 'antique' vases was so great that, in addition to copying surviving Classical antiquities, manufacturers copied designs from prints of the 17th and 18th centuries. Some of these prints were highly fanciful inventions, which were not seriously intended to be models for production. Wedgwood adapted the design here from a vase print by Friedrich Kirschner (1748-1789), a German miniature painter.
Materials & Making
The vase is made of Black Basalt, one of several types of pottery that Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) introduced or refined. The black colour came from 'Carr', an oxide of iron suspended in water that had flowed through coal seams and mines. Although the cover is the correct shape for the vase, its decorative details are different, suggesting it was a later replacement. It is painted with a pigment containing silver, which has oxidised and turned black. This technique was used on Wedgwood's Basalt in the 1790s.
A purely decorative vase, one that would have been displayed in a domestic interior, possibly on a mantelpiece, where it might have been set out with others.
Design & Designing
Wedgwood's move into vase production coincided with the fashionable world taking up the vase as a symbol of the new 'antique' style. The demand for 'antique' vases was so great that, in addition to copying surviving Classical antiquities, manufacturers copied designs from prints of the 17th and 18th centuries. Some of these prints were highly fanciful inventions, which were not seriously intended to be models for production. Wedgwood adapted the design here from a vase print by Friedrich Kirschner (1748-1789), a German miniature painter.
Materials & Making
The vase is made of Black Basalt, one of several types of pottery that Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) introduced or refined. The black colour came from 'Carr', an oxide of iron suspended in water that had flowed through coal seams and mines. Although the cover is the correct shape for the vase, its decorative details are different, suggesting it was a later replacement. It is painted with a pigment containing silver, which has oxidised and turned black. This technique was used on Wedgwood's Basalt in the 1790s.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Black Basalt |
| Brief description | Black basalt vase, made at Josiah Wedgwood's factory, Etruria, Staffordshire, 1780 - 1790 |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Bequeathed by A. S. Hobson |
| Object history | Made at Josiah Wedgwood's factory, Etruria, Staffordshire |
| Summary | Object Type A purely decorative vase, one that would have been displayed in a domestic interior, possibly on a mantelpiece, where it might have been set out with others. Design & Designing Wedgwood's move into vase production coincided with the fashionable world taking up the vase as a symbol of the new 'antique' style. The demand for 'antique' vases was so great that, in addition to copying surviving Classical antiquities, manufacturers copied designs from prints of the 17th and 18th centuries. Some of these prints were highly fanciful inventions, which were not seriously intended to be models for production. Wedgwood adapted the design here from a vase print by Friedrich Kirschner (1748-1789), a German miniature painter. Materials & Making The vase is made of Black Basalt, one of several types of pottery that Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) introduced or refined. The black colour came from 'Carr', an oxide of iron suspended in water that had flowed through coal seams and mines. Although the cover is the correct shape for the vase, its decorative details are different, suggesting it was a later replacement. It is painted with a pigment containing silver, which has oxidised and turned black. This technique was used on Wedgwood's Basalt in the 1790s. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 131&A-1878 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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