Garniture vase

Maker:

Fulham Pottery

ID:

97.90/31

Production date:

c.1673; 17th century

Location:

In Store

In 1672, John Dwight set up a pottery in Fulham. He became the first Englishman to make stoneware, produced by firing clay at very high temperatures. Chinese porcelain was in great demand in Europe but no one knew how to make it. John Dwight tested different ceramic bodies and glazes trying to find the secret but in the end failed. Some of the test pieces are marked with Greek letters and code numbers.  < ...Read more

In 1672, John Dwight set up a pottery in Fulham. He became the first Englishman to make stoneware, produced by firing clay at very high temperatures. Chinese porcelain was in great demand in Europe but no one knew how to make it. John Dwight tested different ceramic bodies and glazes trying to find the secret but in the end failed. Some of the test pieces are marked with Greek letters and code numbers.

This small experimental 'porcelain' flared vase is painted with sprays of flowers in a dull cobalt blue slip. The aim appears to have been to imitate Chinese blue-and-white porcelain of the late Ming period. Although the vessel is undistorted, it has been disfigured by discolouration and the slip/glaze has blistered. Before this piece was discarded it was deliberately broken. < Hide

Measurements

H 125 mm; DM 87 mm (overall)

Materials

ceramic; porcelain

Last Updated

2024-03-14