Glazed and Confused

One of the nice things about living in New York is that I get to see world famous landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge every day. I pass it on the subway on my way to work as it dominates the East River on the south eastern part of Manhattan just south of the Manhattan Bridge.
Its fame is international and people come from all over just to walk it and marvel over its 129 year old walkways, but to us here in NY its utility is generally all we really think about.

Imagine my surprise when I stumbled into the Park Slope Gallery Web site to discover there is actually a majolica plate celebrating this marvel of Victorian architecture!

Among their collection of articles created in celebration of Brooklyn, the gallery has a majolica advertising piece created by Choisy-Le-Roi for Ehrich Brothers, a dry goods store (the equivalent of what we today call a department store). Located on a stretch of the Flatiron District called the "Ladies' Mile," the store operated from 1857 to 1911 in several locations, the last of which is now a Burlington Coat Factory.

On the gallery Web site they date the piece to 1915 which seems unlikely considering the store closed in 1911. Most likely it dates to the store's most profitable period from 1880 to 1900, which coincides with the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883. It was also a period of prodigious majolica production in Europe.
Within the next few years another NY store in the same neighborhood, Higgins & Seiter, would contract a line of majolica that would keep them famous among majolica collectors to this day.

If you're a collector of majolica, the name Higgins & Seiter means only one thing: Choisy-Le-Roi rabbit plates!

But the retail establishment of Higgins & Seiter was actually better known in their heyday as an importer of fine European china and cut glass. The company operated from the late 1860's until 1915. The onset of the first World War brought about the end of their import business and eventual bankruptcy. The company had several locations in the city on W. 21st Street, 22nd Street and E. 37th Street all within walking distance of the "Ladies' Mile."

The company also had a store on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, RI, which no doubt catered to the Oelrich's and Vanderbilt's insatiable appetite for extravagance.

Of course the company probably carried other majolica as well, but the Choisy bunny plates are what we associate with them today. Trademarked in 1900, I have never seen a bunny plate without the Higgins & Seiter mark, though I understand they did make them. The companion plates in the Choisy game bird series do not have this mark.
Both, the game bird plates and the bunny plates, can be found with a "Made in France" mark, which typically indicates production after 1919, so we can assume they both continued to be successful series' long after Higgins & Seiter folded.

The days of this kind of retail advertising is long gone replaced today by disposable plastic giveaways from places like Walmart and Target, but thanks to the efforts of the potters at Choisy-Le-Roi we have an elegant reminder of the way things use to be.

Wedgwood's round grape leaf plates are a standard of the majolica form. The idea of solid green plates itself dates to the earliest Wedgwood wares, which were in production in monochromatic green glaze since the late 18th Century, actually pre-dating the invention of full color majolica by the Minton factory. This particular design, originally produced during the Victorian period, has been in almost continuous production ever since. Still in production today in lead free glazes, the Wedgwood round grape leaf plate is probably the most common majolica plate available.

There are two distinct variations of these plates, the first of which is a roundish plate with a ruffled edge and the second of which is this same leaf against a perfectly round basket weave design. This latter design is the oldest of the two designs while the former is the form in which the plates are still being made by Wedgwood today.

While they are usually made in a solid green glaze, they were also made briefly in full color during the late 1800's, when they functioned as part of Wedgwood's large Leafage series. These full color plates glazed in a combination of brown, yellow, green and sometimes pink, are rather scarce and can bring prices significantly higher than their solid green counterparts.

Since this design has been made over such a long period of time, the only way to date these plates is by the reverse. The earliest plates bear the impressed Wedgwood logo, either with or without the three letter Wedgwood date code. They also have three sagger marks and no real foot.

After 1890 they bore the impressed word "England" in addition to the impressed Wedgwood name and date code. After 1910 they took on the "Made in England" stamp. These plates show sagger marks and a completely glazed foot.

After the Second World War they took on the name Etruria. Today's plates have the circular Etruria Wedgwood ink stamp on the reverse as well an unglazed foot which the earlier plates lack.

The price on these plates has remained rather consistent over the years. The older plates sell in the $50-$80 range where the newer plates sell in the $25-$35 range.
There are also matching dessert stands.

I was scanning one of our reader's Facebook pages earlier today and was so excited to see a painting by my favorite contemporary representational painter on there featuring majolica.
The Facebook page belonged to dealer Black-eyed Susan and the painting is by Janet Fish.

I love Janet Fish's work and have since seeing a large show of it in the late 1970's. Back then she was considered one of a new wave of young, brave photo realists, trying to reclaim figural art for the representationalist painters from the abstractionists who had dominated the form for most of the Twentieth Century. In retrospect they weren't terribly successful. As fabulous as the work of Fish, Close and other photo realists can be, art since then has become more abstract and even more conceptual in nature.
That shouldn't stop us however from enjoying the glorious work of this fabulous artist.

Fish was always most famous for her handling of transparent forms like the one below, and in the painting with majolica she does not disappoint.

A pale aqua depression era glass dessert stand sits alone on a brightly colored tablecloth. To the side is a Fielding insect and fern pitcher. Like in all of Fish's work, you can practically feel the warmth of the sun on the objects.

It seems that Fish had a brown example of this pitcher and toned down the bright colors to better match the surrounding tonality of the pastel tablecloth because I have never seen that pitcher so pale before. Still it's nice to see a recognizable form handled in such a beautiful way.

I was going through some old issues of Majolica Matters, the newsletter of the Majolica International Society and came upon an article by Allison Palz about the painter Louis Charles Moeller. In the article, Ms. Palz talks about seeing a piece of Wardle Fan majolica in a painting of Moeller's in an auction catalog.

This got me wondering if any of Moeller's other work included majolica so I did a search on Google. Dozens of his paintings came up. I discovered that Moeller is a well known American genre artist who specialized in these quaint little interior scenes. He was born in 1855 and did quite a bit of his paintings in the US in the 1870's-1880's. This placed him right in the middle of the Aesthetic Movement and the Asian influence on the arts.

Sure enough this same Wardle majolica teapot that appears in the painting in Allison Palz's article appeared in many other Moeller works of the period. So did the matching sugar bowl and pitcher. Like most artists he kept a stable of "props" in his studio that appeared over and over in his work.

I wonder how many other works of art contain these hidden majolica treasures?

If you know of one, please drop me a line and I'll post it here!

I've mentioned the language of flowers a couple of times before in this blog and the effect it has on the design of many majolica pieces. The Victorians adored this conceit as it allowed them to communicate complex messages covertly through the use of flowers and bouquets. I recently came across this lovely old image that superficially explains some of the basic floral meanings.

This is certainly a charming print but it doesn't even begin to hint at the complexity of this arcane form of communication. Not only did individual flowers have their meanings but different colors of the same flower had different meanings. On top of this, combinations of flowers had their own meaning.

Take a look at this table from Wikipedia:

Flower		Meaning
Acacia		Secret love
Acanthus		Art
Aconite		Misanthropy
Agrimony		Thankfulness
Aloe		Grief
Almond		Promise
Amaranth (Globe)		Immortal love
Anemone		Forsaken, sickness, unfading love
Angrec		Royalty
Apple blossom		Preference
Arborvitae		Everlasting friendship
Balm		Social intercourse or sympathy
Balsamine		Impatience
Bay wreath		Glory
Bumblebee Orchid		Industry
Bellflower		"Thinking of you"
Bells of Ireland		Luck
Bird's-foot Trefoil		Revenge
Box		Constancy
Broom		Humility
Bulrush		Docility
Buttercup		Riches
Cabbage		Profit
Camellia japonica		Unpretending excellence
Campanula		Gratitude
Canterbury Bells		Gratitude
Carnation	general	Fascination; distinction; love
	red	"My heart aches for you", "Alas! For my poor heart"
	white	Sweet and lovely, innocence, pure love, faithfulness
	pink	"I'll never forget you", "Always on my mind"
	yellow	"You have disappointed me", rejection,disdain
	purple	Capriciousness, whimsical, changeable, unreliability
	mauve	Dreams of fantasy
	striped	"No", "Sorry I can't be with you", refusal
	solid color	"Yes", "Affirmative"
Celandine		Joys to come
Cherry blossom		A good education
		Transience of life (in Japan)
		Feminine beauty (in China)
Chestnut		"Do me justice"
China aster		Love of variety
Chrysanthemum	red	"I love"
Chrysanthemum	yellow	Slighted love
Coreopsis		Always cheerful
Cowslip		Winning grace
Clover	red	Industry
Clover	white	"I promise"
Coriander		Lust
Daffodil		Uncertainty, chivalry, respect or unrequited love
Dahlia		Elegance and dignity
Daisy	general	Innocence, loyal love, purity, faith, cheer, simplicity
Daisy	red	Beauty unknown to possessor
Dandelion		Coquetry
Eglantine Rose		A wound to heal
Elderflower		Compassion
Fennel		Strength
Forget-me-not		True love
Geranium		Gentility
Gorse		Love in all seasons
Grass		Submission
Heliotrope		Devotion
Hibiscus		Rare beauty, delicate beauty
Hollyhock		Ambition
Honeysuckle		Devoted affection, bonds of love
Houseleek		Domestic economy
Hydrangea		Frigidness, heartlessness
Ivy		Dependence
Jonquil		"Return my affection"
Laurestine		A token
Lavender		Devotion, distrust
Lemon blossom		Discretion
Lettuce		Cold-hearted
Lichen		Solitude

Flower		Meaning
Lilac	purple	first emotion of love
Lilac	white	youthful innocence
Lily	white	Purity
	scarlet	High-souled aspirations
	orange	Desire, passion
Lily of the Valley		Trustworthy
Lime Blossom		Fornication
Lobelia		Malevolence
Lotus		Purity, chastity and eloquence
Love lies bleeding		Hopelessness
Magnolia		Love of nature
Mallow		Consumed by love
Marigold		Pain and grief
Epigaea repens		Welcome
Mignonette		Worth
Mint		Suspicion
Moonflower		Dreaming of love
Morning glory		Love in vain
Mullein		Good-nature
Nasturtium		Patriotism
Oak leaf		Strength
Oats		Music
Olive		Peace
Orchid		Refined beauty
Oxeye daisy		Patience
Peach blossom		Long-life, generosity, and bridal hope
Pear blossom		Lasting friendship
Peony		Shame, bashfulness
Peony		Masculinity, bravery (in Japan)
Pitch pine blossom		Philosophy
Plum blossom		Beauty and longevity
Poppy	general	Eternal sleep, oblivion, imagination
	red	Pleasure
	white	Consolation, dreams, modern, peace
	yellow	Wealth, success
Rose	red	True love
	blue	Mystery, attaining the impossible, love at first sight
	white	Eternal love, silence or innocence, wistfulness, virtue, purity, secrecy, reverence and humility
	black	Death, hatred, farewell, rejuvenation or rebirth
	yellow	Friendship, jealousy, infidelity, or apology, a broken heart, intense emotion, dying love, extreme betrayal
	pink	Grace
	dark pink	Gratitude
	light pink	Desire, passion, joy of life, youth, energy
	burgundy	unconscious beauty
	coral or orange	Desire, passion
	lavender(violet)	Love at first sight
	red and white together	United
	red and yellow together	Joy, happiness and excitement
	thornless	Love at first sight
Rosemary		Remembrance
Rue		Regret
Sensitive Plant		Sensitivity
Snowdrop		Consolation or hope
Star of Bethlehem		Hope
Straw		United
Sunflower		Pure and lofty thoughts
Sweetbrier		Simplicity
Thorn-apple		Disguise
Thistle		Nobility
Thyme		Thriftiness
Tulip-tree		Fame
Tulip	red	Declaration of love
Tulip	yellow	Hopeless love
Violet	blue	Faithfulness
Violet	white	Modesty
Viscaria		Invitation to dance
Willow (creeping)		Love forsaken
Winged seeds (any kind)		Messengers
Witch-hazel		A magic spell
Wheat		Wealth and prosperity

Its astonishing how complex this iconography really is. What does this tell us about our favorite majolica designs?
Certainly it's much more than we ever suspected.

About six months ago. I received an email from a writer at Main Line Today magazine.
He was writing an article on Etruscan Majolica and asked if I could send him copies of my two books on Etruscan Majolica for review purposes. I debated the idea for a couple of weeks before being persuaded by people I trust to send them to him.
Working in the magazine industry myself I know that it isn't always easy to get accurate reference material when working against a deadline so I felt pretty good about my decision to contribute to the article.

Well, I finally got a look at the finished article today. It is in the February issue of Main Line Today magazine.

It's a nice, overview account of the history of Etruscan Majolica.

I would very much like to thank author J.F. Pierro for including a mention of my Etruscan Majolica Web site in the article. He was also nice enough to quote my book near the end of the article. I can tell that he clearly read my book by the structure of the article. Yet, his article still has some of the same misinformation that has circulated about the Etruscan Works for years. It is these old wives' tales that I wrote the book to dispel, but they have surfaced once again.

I can't say I totally blame Mr. Pierro. He obviously interviewed a number of people instead of just relying on my book and an author's story is only as good as his sources. Some of these stories are harder to kill than a vampire in a blood bank. Still, he did have my book which is accurate and specifically addresses these issues.

Old Wives' tale # 1: William Hill was not involved in the production of Etruscan Majolica.

This one is easy to dispel. There are newspaper articles that date the production of Phoenixville majolica to April of 1879. Hill was actively involved in the Phoenixville pottery from January 1879 to May 1880. That would mean that majolica was in production during his tenure there.

Old Wives' tale # 2: The 1890 fire ended the production of Etruscan Majolica.

The plant fire in December of 1890 had nothing to do with the end of Etruscan Majolica.
By 1890 the Etruscan brand had been out of production for almost two years. After David Smith left the Phoenixville Pottery in 1889, the Etruscan name was retired and the pottery took on the mark of Griffen, Love and Co. and later the Griffen China Company. Monochromatic majolica production did continue on a limited scale until around 1895 under the name of the Chester Pottery, but never again under the Etruscan banner.

Old Wives' tale # 3: President Grant bought Etruscan Majolica for his daughter.

This is a total fabrication. President Grant's daughter did own pottery made at the Phoenixville Pottery but it was a solid cobalt display set with over painted decoration given to her by W.H. Schribner as a wedding gift in 1874 from the people of Pennsylvania. This was five years before production of majolica began at the plant.

I am always happy to see Etruscan Majolica receive such a nice write up from a local publication, but I would hope that the article would be totally accurate.

If you would like to read the article for yourself go to the Main Line Today Web site.

Anyone who is interested in Etruscan Majolica is aware of the peculiar, rare Asian Peasant plate made by the company. That plate is actually a direct copy of a French plate made by Hippolyte Boulanger & Cie faïence de Choisy-le-Roi also known as Choisy-le-Roi or Hautin Boulanger. But how did this odd design actually originate?

The Exposition Universalle in Paris in 1878 is one of those benchmarks in art historical terms that had far reaching influence long after the show had closed. All of the finest manufacturers across the globe wanted their work showcased at the show. Choisy-le-Roi (CLR) was an active participant creating a gate to the Palace of Fine Art for the show. What ultimately stole the show however, was the display of Japanese decorative art shown for the first time outside Japan in a Western exposition. With Paris the center of art and culture in the last half of the Nineteenth century, the Japanese art had an enormous influence on Western decorative arts of the entire period. Western audiences were enthralled by the exotic imagery and geometric forms. Every facet of decorative art from Van Gogh paintings to wallpaper felt this influence. As the movement swept through Great Britain and then the United States it developed into an art historical period known today as the Aesthetic Movement.

To feed this huge new market for Eastern art, the CLR factory complied in 1880 with their own line of majolica in the Japanese taste.

Where the British and Americans were using Japanese design motifs and combining them with a Western design aesthetic, the French at CLR were trying to more closely reproduce the type of ware coming from the East. Of course without a true understanding of Asian customs the result still turned out to be a mishmash of cultures, but it produced a unique line of majolica wares that are largely neither understood nor appreciated today.

The plate copied by the Etruscan Works is one from a series of majolica plates created in the Japanese style from this period. The series utilizes the intaglio Email Ombrant technique. Each of these plates feature a different geometric vignette. Each vignette encloses an active Asian figure balanced off center against some sort of free form Asian decorative motif which usually completes the scene. The figures are derived from various sources including Hokusai's Manga, a book of sketches made of life in Japan in the 17th Century.

The plates were glazed in either one solid color glaze--usually an olive green, turquoise, brown or ochre–--or two, like the Etruscan copy.

To the best of my knowledge there are twelve different designs in the series. I have never seen a matching platter but I have seen a dessert stand.

There is also a different series. This second series is considerably less common than the previous one. Unlike the other design, this one has no formal border around the central image but it also utilizes the Email Ombrant technique and the vignettes of the previous one. These all have one figure inside a vignette within a larger, more complex scene. Around the perimeter of the plate, there are various exotic looking figures meant to represent Japanese script. How authentic these are I can't say because I don't read Japanese, but they look more decorative than anything and certainly add an exotic Asian flavor to the overall design.
I have only seen these plates glazed in a monochromatic manner, in the same colors of the other series. I do not know how many different designs were created for this series as they rarely show up, but I would guess that there are probably twelve different designs for this group as well.

Both of these series' have a restrained sophistication so common of French majolica done in the intaglio manner and would make a striking, and unusual conversation starter at any meal.
Like most plates of this type, they remain quite reasonably priced with monochromatic examples beginning at about $30 a piece and two color plates beginning around $75, so they are well within the reach of most collectors.

So the next time you see them pick them up, and impress your friends with your art history background and continental sophistication!

I really don't know who invented the hand vase or how long they've been popular, but to my eye the hand vase is a particularly Victorian design. It's actually quite bizarre if you think about it; a disembodied woman's hand holding a container of flowers, but somehow it manages to be a quite disarming (no pun intended) and charming idea.

My first encounter with the hand vase was in a book about pottery. It struck me as so strange, but I must admit over time it has grown on me. Today I look at hand vases whenever they surface and am often charmed by the care and variety that went into their modeling.

Majolica hand vases go as far back as the creation of majolica itself. Minton made what is probably the loveliest, and strangest, hand vase of them all, a woman's hand holding an open mouthed fish into which one places flowers.

Geeoge Jones also made a hand vase in majolica, one more typical of those one sees in other ceramic bodies.

Joseph Holdcroft too made a lovely vase with lilies of the valley.

The large majority of hand vases that one sees however, were made by various unnamed potteries throughout Great Britain.

Hand vases are sweet and feminine and very unusual. For that reason they usually sell at a premium. The Minton and Jones vases sell for well over $1000 but they are large commanding pieces that can be the center of a collection. The unmarked vases will generally sell under $400, with more common examples selling between $100-$200.

So. if you're charmed by them as I am, there's a hand vase out there in your price range waiting for you to take it home... but I wouldn't put flowers in it!

"Never try to catch two frogs with one hand."

--- Chinese Proverb

If you're trying to catch two majolica frogs with one hand, you may well have an easier time of it then the real thing as they are so plentiful. After my visit to the NYC Pier Show this weekend, where I saw what I think is the largest majolica frog in existence, I got to thinking about frogs. In fact, I can't think of a single animal that appears more frequently in majolica than the frog. Including the hundreds of Palissy pieces that feature them (and are too many in number to feature here), frogs are everywhere in majolica.

Just about every manufacturer made something with frogs! Minton, Jones, Copeland, the Etruscan Works-- they all made pieces with them. So many exist that it seems fruitless to try and illustrate them all, so I'll do my best and just post a few of the more commonly seen examples.

Minton made four of the most desirable frog pieces found in majolica: this box of a frog sitting on a lily pad, this pitcher of a frog riding a fish, a sweetmeat compote and this frog creamer.

Both George Jones and Copeland made charming frog vases.

Jones also added frogs to the pitcher that forms part of their chestnut series.

Hugo Lonitz made a terrific terrine with a frog finial and cute little sweetmeat server.

Delphin Massier seems to have specialized in frogs. In addition to the giant figural cane stand I saw this weekend, Massier made this smaller version as a vase, as well as other frogs for various uses. They even made a frog teapot!

Other French companies also made frogs,

Then there is the large collection of smoking themed frogs...

strikers...

and humidors.

Of course there are any number of frogs from both Continental and British manufacturers,--including one of my favorites, the frog on melon pitcher--that are otherwise hard to categorize.

So, if frogs tickle your fancy, there's a world of majolica frogs waiting for you... but I would use both hands!

The Massier family made such a variety of elegant, fanciful majolica that it's hard to focus on just one subject when writing about them, but for me the floral form pieces were unique among majolica manufacturers.
Where all members of the family made majolica, they also each had their own special biases. Clement Massier, probably the best known of the group, pioneered the use of metallic and iridescent glazes for earthenware. Jerome favored majolica human and animal forms while Delphine loved plants. It is from Delphine we get the largest variety of floral majolica.
The Massiers made everything imaginable in a floral form from dishes to wall pockets to clocks. The most extravagant of the floral pieces had to be the jardiniėrs particularly those with matching pedestals. Today these sell for thousands of dollars and are hard to find outside of France. But when you do, they are a treat to behold!

Other floral pieces from the family are beautiful but more reasonably priced, like the plates, vases and clocks. Of course there are always exceptions like the beautiful orchid vase below with the butterfly which recently sold for several thousands of dollars.

If these appeal to you now is the time to buy because Massier is currently the hottest name in majolica and the prices will only skyrocket with time.

What do Santa Claus, Uncle Sam, the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey all have in common? They were all the creation of cartoonist Thomas Nast.

Of course Santa had been around for centuries in the guise of St. Nick and the Democratic donkey had been around since Andrew Jackson's time, but it wasn't until Nast seized on them in the 1870's that they developed the modern conception we have of them today.

With the political season upon us, I thought it may be a good time to take a look at how majolica manufacturers have represented Nast's symbols of the two main American political parties, the elephant and the donkey.
First we'll take a look at the symbol of the grand old party, the Republican elephant.

There are no lack of representations of the elephant in majolica.

The most spectacular would have to be the two Minton gold covered majolica elephants in the window of Thomas Goode & Sons store in the Mayfair section of London. Created for Goode and displayed at the Paris 1889 International Exhibition, the elephants are the largest existing pieces of majolica in the world, standing at over seven feet tall! After the Exhibition, Goode placed them in the shop's window where they have remained for 123 years. Of course, that's not to say that the elephants aren't for sale because they are. The price tag: a cool €6 million. (That's about $9 million.)

Other majolica elephants pale in comparison to the Goode elephants but for the majority of us these smaller elephants will do just fine.

The most famous elephant of the 19th Century was, of course, Jumbo, that wild African elephant that started its life in the Sudan and traveled extensively through Paris, London and finally the home of P.T. Barnum, New York City.

It was no doubt that while in London between 1861 and 1881, he caught the eye of majolica makers, a prodigious period of majolica manufacture.

A mania for elephants erupted and soon pachyderms were appearing everywhere in majolica, from teapots to garden seats; wall pockets to bottles; and jardinieres to humidors. One even came with a clock!

Actually, I have an amusing story to tell about this last little fellow if you'll pardon the aside.
Years ago I purchased this humidor for $200 from a dealer in the South. I took it to an antique show in Pennsylvania where I sold it before the show opened for $250. The dealer who purchased it then sold it to another dealer who then sold it again, each time escalating the price. By the time the show opened it had changed hands four times and was selling for $850!

If that little story proves anything it's that the elephant's popularity has endured all these years later and has proven an admired symbol of the Republican party.

Next time, we'll take a look at the Democratic donkey.

Have you ever noticed that diamond shaped registration mark on the base of some English pitchers?

That's an English registration mark. It was an attempt by the English pottery system to date pottery designs and prevent companies from copying the patterns of one another. Unfortunately it didn't prove terribly successful because copies of well known patterns litter the pottery landscape. From the beginning, one pottery stealing the design of another has been an integral part of the pottery business. Majolica designs are no exception.

Take a look at some of these original majolica designs followed by their contemporary's copies.

In the United States the copying of English majolica patterns was particularly rampant. No company was more guilty of this than the Etruscan Works. A large percentage of their earliest designs were direct copies of English patterns. In my book on the company, The Majolica of Griffen, Smith & Company, I theorized that the original modeler of the majolica of the Phoenix Pottery was most likely one of the sons of an earthenware modeler for Wedgwood, Hamlet Bourne. This certainly would explain the large number of Wedgwood copies the company made in its earliest years. Hamlet's children would have been familiar with these designs, having grown up with them. Of course, there's no way of knowing for certain because all the company's original records were lost, but it does make some sense especially since both Bourne brothers were known to be working in potteries on the US east coast. Very few of these Etruscan copies of English pieces were actually marked. The reason for this is well known. The Etruscan Works didn't mark their English copies because they were trying to fool consumers into thinking that their pottery was fine imported ware.

As the company grew more assured they branched out into their own original designs and relied less on their copies of English patterns.

It's certainly possible that economics is the reason other small potteries both English and American, copied the work of large English potteries. My own thoughts are that they weren't so much trying to pass their work for that of the large potteries as they were simply copying proven popular designs. If you've compared the early copies to the original, there is no confusing the two.

So, how do these antique majolica pattern copies stack up price wise?
As is generally the case in most arts, the original is usually worth more than the copy. Of course, this isn't always the case. The Etruscan Works copied the oyster plate of the Union Porcelain Works, making only slight changes to the plate border. Now, the Union Porcelain oyster plates are quite sought after by collectors and they can bring hundreds of dollars for exceptional examples, but the Etruscan copies bring several thousand dollars at auction.

In some cases both the copy and the original will bring a similar price. This is particularly true when you have copies of pieces by lesser known potteries. What matters more than lineage in these cases is color, craftsmanship and glazing.

These majolica reproductions have caught my attention recently. Some have been around for a few years where others are recent to the market. In any event be aware that these are out in the stores and fairs should anyone try to represent them as antique.

As is usually the case with reproductions the quality is generally quite poor. The main exception I would make in this group is the reproduction of the Armory pottery stag plate, which is actually very convincing.
There's certainly nothing wrong with buying a reproduction as long as you know what you're buying.
Forewarned is forearmed.

Forester is one of the best known names in majolica yet most people couldn't identify a piece if it fell in their lap. One of the reasons for this is that Forester marked few of their majolica wares. In fact, much of what we now recognize as Forester is from ads advertising the company. That's unfortunate because their output was prodigious and they deserve recognition for creating many of the wares we see for sale today.

Thomas Forester established the Church Street Majolica works in 1877. After modest early success he demolished the facility two years later to build a significantly larger pottery which he named the Phoenix Works. In 1883 he brought his sons into the business and further expanded his facility into an adjoining factory, nearly doubling his space, making Forester & Sons one of the largest potteries in Stoke-on-Trent. The company specialized in majolica ware but as styles shifted so did the company's output. Though the company continued potting majolica well into the 20th Century they expanded their line to include fine china and art pottery. These eventually became the mainstay of the pottery and remained so until the pottery closed in 1959.

Forester majolica is erratic in its quality with few pieces ever reaching the level of sophistication or quality of the larger potteries. Their designs are rather basic, often exhibiting many of the same influences as other ceramics of their day, but simpler and more rustic in execution. Still, many of their wares are beautiful and will be recognizable to most collectors.

Because of their prolific output, most Forester majolica is relatively easy to find. It was inexpensive when it was new and remains inexpensive today. If you're lucky enough to find a marked piece expect to pay about 50% more than an unmarked example.

Honestly, is there anything more exquisite than a Minton majolica teapot? If you collect majolica, the answer is absolutely not! As anyone who collect majolica can tell you Minton, the creator of the form is still the master. The level of wit, craftsmanship and beauty Minton achieved has never been surpassed in the majolica body.

Of these the most ingenious Minton majolica teapot is also the rarest: the Minton vulture and snake teapot. Among the most valuable pieces of majolica in the world this design is remarkable in its design. The snake that's being attacked by the bird is both the teapot spout, handle and lid handle while the body of the bird makes up the container for the tea.

The teapot was designed by Colonel Henry Hope Crealock, a rather remarkable artist and military man.

He gained his fame through his paintings and sketches of military life during the late Victorian period. They offered to the British public an intimate look of life in the British army during its great colonial campaigns in India, Africa, China and Russia. How he was engaged by Minton I don't know, but his choice of this classic theme of the triumph of good over evil seems a natural subject for him given his background.

Created in the early 1870's, this must have been a very fragile design because few have survived intact. The first time I saw one of these for sale was in an antiques co-op in the late 1980's. It had been broken into a dozen pieces and re-glued. Still it sold for $1,500 which seemed to me a remarkable price at the time for a piece that had essentially been completely destroyed.

Today the price this teapot brings is outrageous. The example above which dates from 1873, sold at Christies in London for £22,100 ($43,139) in 2008. I think the record for this design must be the one that sold from the Karmason collection in 2005 by Majolica Auctions. It brought $71,875 (hammer price of $62,500 plus commission). The most recent auction sales are down somewhat from that price. An example sold in November 2011 for $37,500.

For those who can't afford such an extravagance, there are two limited edition reproductions available from the Minton Archive Collection from 1998-2001, a full color edition and an edition identified as Flambe.

Made in an edition of 1000, these originally sold for $300 when new. They are now bringing about twice that at auction.

As some of you may know, Wedgwood named their majolica patterns. We know this from the entries in the Wedgwood pattern books. A study of these entries, one would assume, is a good indication of the popularity of individual patterns. Patterns with many entries are likely to be more popular than patterns with less entries. Some of these different pattern numbers may only be different colorways so we aren't necessarily talking about different designs. Still, for a collector this information can be instructional.

Maureen Batkin did a study of these patterns in her book Majolica: British, Continental and American Wares 1851-1915 and found that the patterns with the most entries were as follows:

Fan (90 entries)
St. Louis (79 entries)
Grosvenor (79 entries)
Italian (72 entries)
Luther (70 entries)

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to these names, with the exception of Fan and maybe Italian which are self explanatory. All but Italian are Argenta patterns and all but Italian, are heavily influenced by Japanese design. Of the five patterns mentioned, Italian is the oldest design, having been introduced in the early 1870's. Fan was introduced in the late 1870's and St. Louis, Grosvenor and Luther were all introduced in the early 1880's. We've written about a couple of these patterns before--Fan and St. Louis--so we won't repeat ourselves here, but we've never discussed the other three.

In auctions and shops, Grosvenor, St. Louis and Luther are generally identified as just being generic aesthetic patterns. Grosvenor and Luther are very similar to the casual eye and could be easily confused but there are differences and I thought we could look at those here.

First, let's look at Grosvenor.

Grosvenor is distinguished by three distinctive decorative elements that are repeated on all Grosvonor pieces. The first is a thick border decorated with diagonal lines. Within this border is a second thick border made of rectangles within other rectangles. Inside this is a fish scale motif which fills the separate panels that make up the design.
It was the only Wedgwood pattern designed for dinner use, a break from the specialized use of the other Wedgwood tablewares. Considering this to be the case, we have never seen a complete set of dinnerware in this pattern. Still, it is an easy pattern to find and like the other Wedgwood aesthetic patterns does not command high prices.

The second pattern is Luther.

The most distinctive feature of Luther is the lattice design that fills the large spaces in between the narrow ribbed borders that divide the design. Instead of pots full of fruit bearing pomegranates there are flowering tree blossoms. Alternating panels have a thick frame that surrounds the lattice design. Like Grosvenor, Luther is also rather easy to find and generally inexpensive.

Both Luther and Grosvenor are commonly found in the U.S.
Italian however is not.

As you would expect from a pattern named Italian, this design uses classical motifs to populate the design. Like the other designs, Italian is divided into sections but in this case, the panels are utilized in an entirely classic manner. There is no severe abstraction as in Grosvenor and Luther, just an elegant, somewhat over-the-top collection of classical urns, garlands and acanthus leaves. Pomegranates also appear on this design as do flowering branches of different types.

Italian as a pattern seems to have been largely relegated to big pieces like jardinieres and pedestals and not tableware like the other four patterns in the top five. Perhaps this accounts for its scarcity today. When they appear at auction these pieces tend not to bring very high prices. The above example brought $600, not very much for such a large set but I have also seen the pedestal alone sell for $1200, so I guess it depends on the audience.

I want to add here that although these five patterns may have been popular enough at the time for Wedgwood to create numerous versions of them, they are not at all those most popular among today's collector. In fact the truth is quite the opposite. With the possible exception of Fan, aesthetic inspired Wedgwood designs are probably the least popular designs among modern collectors. More traditional Wedgwood patterns like Ocean are much more popular. Where other aesthetic patterns such as Chrysanthemum and Stanley have strong Japanese influence they are generally not considered Aesthetic Movement patterns by the layman and are highly coveted by collectors.

As I was updating my posts on George Jones majolica marks and Minton majolica tiles earlier this week it occurred to me that I had never done a post on George Jones majolica tiles. Well, there's a good reason for that: I have only seen a handful of George Jones tiles in the 28 years that I've been buying majolica. So, I thought that maybe I should do some research on these tiles to see what I could find out about them. Well, I found virtually nothing!

The only information I found was in the Nicholas Daws book Majolica, which has long been out of print. He illustrates several design drawings from the Wedgwood museum with the caption telling us that Jones did not compete much in the tile business. The only other info I could garner was from a passing mention in a judges' report relating to a review on George Jones' display of majolica at the 1879 International Exposition in Sydney Australia. In the judges' report of the display there was one line: "The majolica tiles are very good."
That's it... no other information! This left me with a dilemma: how do I do a blog post on majolica tiles without information?
The only way I know how--by letting the tiles speak for themselves.

Many of these images are from the auction of the Marilyn Karmason collection in 2005. Dr. Karmason knew quality and collected a number of Jones tiles. Some of these designs are adaptations of regular majolica designs in the GJ line. It's from these few examples we get some idea of how beautiful Jones tiles could be.

A border of these must have been breathtaking!

Having already done posts on both Minton's majolica tiles and George Jones' majolica tiles, I thought I'd finish the British majolica triumvirate with a post on Wedgwood's majolica tile output.

Majolica tiles began production at the Wedgwood factory in the early 1860's a little bit after the beginning of majolica housewares in 1860 with the golden age of Wedgwood majolica tiles falling in the period between 1865 and 1875. Though majolica tile were never a large part of Wedgwood's business they did remain in the majolica tile business until 1902 producing both full color pictorial and monochromatic field tile until that time. Like George Jones tiles Wedgwood pictorial tile had the same distinct look and character as their tableware counterparts.

Some of the known Wedgwood majolica tile pattern names are: PassionFlower, Lion's head and Wreaths, Narcissus, Ferns and Clodion, all shown above. Other patterns are Spotted Flower, Crane, Fruit and Birds, and Orchid.

One of the best surviving installations of Wedgwood tiles is in the Royal Baths at Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Mainly consisting of majolica field tile, the Turkish inspired design was commissioned by the Duke of Cambridge in 1897 and created by Frank Baggallay and Fred Bristowe.

The prices of Wedgwood tiles are certainly in the upper range of collectible tile. Figural designs such as the classical Clodion command the highest prices, usually selling for several hundred dollars a piece.

One of the first majolica plates we ever bought was from Wedgwood's large fruit dessert plate series. It pictures a sliced melon with a turquoise basket weave ground. We picked it up at a tiny church sponsored antiques sale for $30 and was one of the prettiest plates we'd ever seen. Soon afterwards we started to see other plates with different fruits on them-- many different fruits. It piqued our curiosity. We began to wonder, how many different plates could there be?

Well, it's now 25+ years later and we're still not sure! It seems that as soon as they're all accounted for a different one shows up! To date we've counted twelve different large plates.

The series itself dates to the 1870's and was conceived as part of the Argenta line. Consequently the plates are most frequently found with an ivory or turquoise ground, and less frequently with a cobalt ground.

With some looking they can also be found in brown, mottled, and two glaze combinations like cobalt/green and gold/red.
Each plate features one large fruit surrounded by smaller fruits, nuts and foliage.

Here's what we've found so far in addition to the melon: a pomegranate: an apple; chestnut; coconut; fig; lemon; peach; pear; pineapple; a whole orange; and a peeled orange. Why there are two oranges we can't say (maybe one is supposed to be a clementine or a tangerine, who knows) but there seems to be a consensus among collectors we've spoken to that the peeled orange is the most desired and most beautiful in the series.

In addition to the large 9-inch plates there were numerous matching serving pieces: platters in three sizes; two grape servers; a relish plate; a footed bowl; tazzas in two sizes; a 6.75-inch side dish; an umbrella stand; a condiment set; mugs; a large punch bowl; and a sardine box. With so many different shapes there must be other pieces of the series that we haven't seen as well.
There were also other Wedgwood designs that utilized the same basket weave ground such as the Wedgwood cornbread platter but as far as I can tell they're not actually part of the series but more like go-alongs.

The 9-inch plates have always brought good prices. The ivory ground plates are often stained but still bring about $100-$200 each; the turquoise plates usually bring $200-$350 each; and the cobalt ground plates will bring $400+. The other color combinations are not really very popular with the all-over mottled plates usually bringing the lowest price of them all by selling for under $100.
Prices for the companion pieces depend on color, rarity and condition.

One note to all this: the Etruscan apple and strawberry plate is a copy of the Wedgwood peach plate, minus the peach! The elements are somewhat reorganized but there's no question of the relation between the two.

It was only one of many Etruscan designs with components "borrowed" from Wedgwood.

If there's one topic on this blog that always attracts a lot of hits it is those articles where I write about reproductions. Is it any surprise? With the number of reproductions growing daily it is getting more and more difficult for beginning collectors to discern between the genuine article and the copies flooding the market. We have written on this topic several times in the past but with reproductions becoming more common, we thought that maybe we should go over the basics for new readers.

The most important thing that any buyer can do to educate themselves about reproductions is to look at a lot of majolica. Go to an auction house or antique show that has a lot of pieces to choose from and look carefully at the pieces. You will find that after you've handled quite a bit of majolica you'll note a difference between reproductions and contemporary copies. Victorian majolica is heavy for its size. It is solidly potted earthenware. Most plates were thrown by hand with a molded face. Contemporary ware is slip formed in molds. It is light in weight.
Antique majolica hollow ware was also slip molded on the exterior with thick sides that are smooth on the interior. Contemporary majolica hollow ware is hollowed out-- the inside shows indentations from the design on the outside. Take a look at the two examples below.

The cobalt example immediately above is a Victorian majolica bowl by Wedgwood. See how the interior is quite smooth with only the slightest indication of the ruffled fan design from the exterior of the bowl? The white bowl shown above it is a contemporary reproduction by Mottehedeh. See how different the interior is? You can practically see all of the details from the exterior of the bowl on the inside. This is commonly seen in reproduction pieces because of the change in manufacturing of pottery in the past 100 years.

Another indication is the presence or absence of saggar or stilt marks on the base.

Above is the underside of a genuine George Jones horse chestnut plate. In the center of the plate one can see three small, rough, unglazed marks. These are stilt marks, left over from the original firing of the piece. The plate was balanced on these three small stilts as it was fired in the sagger. This kept the piece from sticking to the saggar tray as the glaze melted. All Victorian majolica has these marks. Now take a look at the reproduction of the same plate below.

The saggar marks are missing and the foot itself is completely unfinished. This is because the base was ground down after firing to allow for a smooth foot. This is typical of contemporary inexpensive ceramics made in southeast Asia. Any kind of large unglazed area like this should immediately send up a red flag.

Now let's take a look at the obverse of these same same two trays.

The top tray is smoothly glazed with a bright shiny finish. Detail is good and the colors are rich and clear. The face of the reproduction below is coarsely modeled with a semigloss type of glaze. There is a clumsiness to the modeling, something very typical to these reproductions, and an overall yellow cast to the entire piece, an attempt to give the piece an antiqued look. In this case the reproduction is the heavier of the two pieces--too heavy in fact. It feels like it was made from dense plaster, which it may well have been.

Let's take a look at another example of an original and its reproduction.

The piece directly below is a Wedgwood Victorian majolica cheese dome. The piece below it is the contemporary reproduction.

Every aspect of the original is superior in quality: the modeling, the glaze, even the scale. The runny glaze one sees in this reproduction is extremely common. There is no crispness to the glaze application which is very sloppy, another indication of its poor manufacture. Victorian majolica has an iridescent quality, something you don't see in reproductions. Even that clumsy knob on the top is a give away. It is wildly out of scale with the remainder of the design.

Here are another two cheese domes.

The top piece is an original Minton piece, the one below it is the reproduction. Again, as in the Wedgwood copy, everything looks wrong. Minton invented majolica. Their craftsmanship is sublime. There's nothing sublime about the reproduction: the glaze is dripping everywhere, the modeling is coarse and the scale of the handle on top is much too large for the bell. Even the base is wrong.

Nothing substitutes for education when it comes to buying antiques. The best advice anyone can give a beginner is to look at as much majolica as you can. Soon you'll be able to tell a reproduction from across a showroom like a pro.

New York CIty's Retail Majolica Legacy

Majolica Spotlight: Wedgwood's Leaf Dessert Plates

The Art of Majolica: Janet Fish

Louis Charles Moeller and the Art of Majolica

The Language of Flowers

Etruscan Majolica: Fact and Fiction

Choisy-le-Roi Aesthetic Series Plates

Majolica Hand Vases

Frogs, Frogs Frogs!

Massier Floral Form Majolica

Elephants vs. Donkeys, Part 1

Antique Majolica Pattern Copies

The Latest Majolica Reproductions

Forester Majolica

Minton Majolica Teapots: The Vulture and Snake Teapot

Wedgwood's Top Five Majolica Patterns

Majolica Showcase: George Jones Majolica Tiles

Majolica Showcase: Wedgwood Majolica Tiles

Majolica Spotlight: Wedgwood's Fruit Plate Series

Detecting reproduction majolica