Staffordshire Processes
Stained Glass Design
ca. 1870 (made)
ca. 1870 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
As carried out during the late 1860s and 1870s, the interior of the Lecture Theatre block of the Victoria and Albert Museum - containing the Lecture Theatre, Ceramic Gallery (now the Silver Gallery, Rooms 65-69) and refreshment rooms - was elaborately decorated. This pen and ink drawing comprises one of William Bell Scott’s designs for the fourteen stained-glass windows in the Ceramic Gallery. Henry Cole, the first director of the Museum, was responsible for the theme. Mirroring the arrangement of ceramic items within the gallery, the stained-glass windows depicted historical periods of ceramic manufacture: seen here are processes of Staffordshire ceramic production. Scott executed the designs by painting onto glass panes with a brush, keeping the windows virtually free of colour (yellow being the only stain used) so as not to darken the gallery. Scott also designed two stained-glass windows for the landings of the two staircases leading up from the Ceramic Gallery to the Lecture Theatre.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Staffordshire Processes |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink with watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Design for Victoria and Albert Museum by William Bell Scott, Ceramic Gallery, stained-glass window (Staffordshire Processes), about 1870 |
| Physical description | Small-scale pen and ink drawing with yellow watercolour on paper. Divided into four yellow-bordered rectangular lights, with a further light indicated above, this design for a stained-glass window in the Ceramic Gallery (now the Silver Gallery, Rooms 65-69) depicts Staffordshire ceramic production. In workshop interiors peopled with four and three male figures respectively, using hand-held implements to work large containers of clay, the top left light shows white clay being refined, whilst the top right light shows mixing coloured clays. The lower two lights show tiles being stamped using fixed, hand-operated machinery; here, the some of the figures are female. Drawn to a larger scale and lightly coloured with yellow watercolour, to the side is a detail of the oak leaf and acorn pattern to be used as a border. Annotated; subject matter labelled on mount. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | As carried out during the late 1860s and 1870s, the interior of the Lecture Theatre block of the Victoria and Albert Museum - containing the Lecture Theatre, Ceramic Gallery (now the Silver Gallery, Rooms 65-69) and refreshment rooms - was elaborately decorated. This pen and ink drawing comprises one of William Bell Scott’s designs for the fourteen stained-glass windows in the Ceramic Gallery. Henry Cole, the first director of the Museum, was responsible for the theme. Mirroring the arrangement of ceramic items within the gallery, the stained-glass windows depicted historical periods of ceramic manufacture: seen here are processes of Staffordshire ceramic production. Scott executed the designs by painting onto glass panes with a brush, keeping the windows virtually free of colour (yellow being the only stain used) so as not to darken the gallery. Scott also designed two stained-glass windows for the landings of the two staircases leading up from the Ceramic Gallery to the Lecture Theatre. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic reference | Physick, John. The Victoria and Albert Museum: The History of Its Building. London: The Victoria & Albert Museum, 1982.
|
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 8099:12 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
