Object Type
This bottle vase, with its exaggerated, elongated and doubly bulbous neck is a De Morgan fantasy. The decoration is derived from isnik images. Isnik is the 16th-century name for ancient Nicaea in Anatolia, now Turkey. Using Persian and Isnik ceramic forms of the 13th and 14th centuries as a starting point De Morgan created a shape which was entirely his own. The decoration too is fantastic, showing a sea-battle between European galleons riding above fish and sea-monsters. Appealing to artistic circles with a taste for rich and exotic colours, it is substantial in size and would have been intended purely for show.

People
De Morgan was a highly inventive man and relished a challenge, be it in engineering, chemistry or design. While imagery and shapes from Persia and elsewhere may have inspired him he always gave them his own imaginative twist. His particular passion was for Persian colours and lustre glazes and, typically, he set about rediscovering the difficult art of lustre firing for himself, rather than buying ready-made metallic colours from Staffordshire. Towards the end of his life the pottery closed and he began a new and unexpectedly successful career as a novelist.