De Morgan, who began his career painting stained glass for William Morris’s company, noticed iridescent effects in silver paint and then experimented to achieve lustered glazes on earthenware inspired by fifteenth-century Hispano-Moresque wares. This charger combines red and yellow lusters to describe fish swimming through a leafy pond. It was once owned by Morris, who displayed similar ceramics on his mantelpiece at Kelmscott House, Hammersmith, London.
Artwork Details
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Title:Charger
Designer:William De Morgan (British, London 1839–1917 London)
Artist:Merton Abbey Pottery Works
Date:1882–88
Medium:Lustred earthenware
Dimensions:20 1/4 × 2 5/8 in., 8.8 lb. (51.4 × 6.7 cm, 4 kg)
Classification:Ceramics-Pottery
Credit Line:Anonymous Gift, 1929
Accession Number:29.32
the artist (in 1888); William Morris, London; Edward H. Van Ingen, New York (until d. 1920); private collection (until 1929; their gift to MMA)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The Arts & Crafts Movement in Europe & America, 1880–1920: Design for the Modern World," December 19, 2004–April 3, 2005, unnumbered cat. (fig. 2.1).
Milwaukee Art Museum. "The Arts & Crafts Movement in Europe & America, 1880–1920: Design for the Modern World," May 19–September 5, 2005, unnumbered cat.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "The Arts & Crafts Movement in Europe & America, 1880–1920: Design for the Modern World," October 16, 2005–January 8, 2006, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Modern Design: Selections from the Collection," May 30–October 5, 2008, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Highlights from the Modern Design Collection: 1900 to the Present," June 23, 2009–May 1, 2011, no catalogue.
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. "Earth, Sea, and Sky: Nature in Western Art—Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 6, 2012–January 4, 2013, no. 122.
Beijing. National Museum of China. "Earth, Sea, and Sky: Nature in Western Art—Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 8–May 9, 2013, no. 122.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Pre-Raphaelite Legacy: British Art and Design," May 20–October 26, 2014.
C. L. A. "Accessions and Notes: A Lustred Plate by De Morgan." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 24 (March 1929), p. 86, ill.
Ernest Chaplet (French, Sèvres 1835–1909 Choisy-le-Roi)
ca. 1890
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