Bowl thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 140, Factory Ceramics

Bowl

ca. 1900 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Around 1900 Finland's awareness of its national identity found expression in a burgeoning of design and the arts in general. The Iris Workshops were part of this movement. The potter (and painter), Alfred William Finch (1854-1930), an Englishman brought up and educated in Brussels, had an international training and experience which he brought to Finland at the invitation of Louis Sparre, the founder in 1897 of the Workshops in Porvoo. The Workshops also produced furniture, textiles and glass, all of it radical and influential, despite the Workshops' short existence. After its closure in 1902, Finch went on to head the ceramics department at the Central School of Industrial Arts in Helsinki.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Earthenware incised with decoration cut through coloured slip; applied dots of white slip
Brief description
Earthenware bowl, with incised and slip decoration, made by Alfred William Finch at the Iris Workshop, Porvoo, ca. 1900.
Physical description
Two-handled red earthenware bowl, incised and with slip decoration in green, blue and white.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 34.7cm
  • Height: 9.5cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'AWF IRIS FINLAND' and 'LMM' in monogram ('LMM' for La Maison Moderne (Paris))
  • 'LMM' [in monogram, impressed]
Gallery label
BOWL CIRC.758-1966 'American and European Art and Design 1800-1900' Around 1900 Finland's awareness of its national identity found expression in a burgeoning of design and the arts. The Iris Workshops were a part of this movement. The potter, Finch, an Englishman brought up and educated in Brussels, had an international training and experience which he brought to Finland at the innovation of the founder of the Workshops, which also produced furniture, textiles and glass, all of it radical and extremely influential, despite the Workshops' short existence (1897-1902).(1987-2006)
Object history
Acquired by Barbara Morris, Assistant Keeper, Dept. of Circulation, on a visit to Finland following the exhibition 'Finlandia' held in the V&A in 1961.
Production
Designed for Iris Workshop, Porvoo.
Subject depicted
Summary
Around 1900 Finland's awareness of its national identity found expression in a burgeoning of design and the arts in general. The Iris Workshops were part of this movement. The potter (and painter), Alfred William Finch (1854-1930), an Englishman brought up and educated in Brussels, had an international training and experience which he brought to Finland at the invitation of Louis Sparre, the founder in 1897 of the Workshops in Porvoo. The Workshops also produced furniture, textiles and glass, all of it radical and influential, despite the Workshops' short existence. After its closure in 1902, Finch went on to head the ceramics department at the Central School of Industrial Arts in Helsinki.
Bibliographic references
  • Greenhalgh, Paul (Ed.), Art Nouveau: 1890-1914 . London: V&A Publications, 2000
  • Opie, Jennifer Hawkins. Scandinavia: ceramics & glass in the twentieth century. London: V&A Publications, 1989. 61 p., ill. ISBN 1851770712.
  • Opie J Hawkins: Scandinavian Ceramics and Glass in the Twentieth Century, V&A, 1989, cat no 121
  • Jervis,SS, ed Art and Design in Europe and America 1800-1900. Herbert, 1987, pp196-197
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.758-1966

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Record createdDecember 31, 2003
Record URL
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