missing knop; Electroplate

for bowl; Electroplate

Ewer with basin and strainer for rosewater.

Purchase - 16 l.
1851 Exhibition
This curious set was bought from the manufacturer at the Great Exhibition for £16. It shows how in order to make an impact at the exhibitions, firms took ideas from increasingly varied sources. Marrel's described this set as being "executed entirely by hand, with a chisel, after the manner of Arabs". The set directly imitates Islamic prototypes, and was presumably made for a middle-eastern market. Cristofle, the major Parisian manufacturer, also made such "Arab style" pieces from the 1860s, and in fact revived this design as late as 1980. Marrel Frères won a Council Medal for their display at the 1851 Exhibition.
The staff of the South Kensington Museum, when it acquired this set, were not so enthusiastic as the Marrels had been. Their opinion was that the workmanship possessed "little merit" as it was "vastly inferior" to its Islamic prototypes. However, flat ornament was being lauded in the Museum by one of its senior staff, Richard Redgrave, partly under the influence of Owen Jones.

163-1851