Vase
Della Robbia Pottery
Category
Ceramics
Date
1898 - 1904
Materials
earthenware with slip, sgraffito and coloured glazes
Measurements
286 mm (H)228 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Birkenhead
Order this imageCollection
Standen House and Garden, West Sussex
NT 1213585
Summary
Vase (the ‘Princess Louise Bowl’), red earthenware, with beaded foot rim, bulbous lower body and open, flaring neck, designed and decorated by Willie Williams, Della Robbia Pottery, Birkenhead, c. 1898-1904; decorated with white slip with sgraffito and painted repeated design in blue and green of stylised scaly fish, repeated quartered circles beneath the rim.
Full description
The Della Robbia Pottery was established in Birkenhead in 1894, taking its name and inspiration from the maiolica (tin glazed earthenware) masterpieces of Italian Renaissance sculptor Luca Della Robbia. It ran according to Arts and Crafts principles, aspiring to use local labour and materials, and to create works entirely by hand. Della Robbia employed many women as designers and decorators. The ceramics were bold, bright and colourful – the Magazine of Art reported that, with Della Robbia ceramics in a room, ‘the ordinary meal would have the comparative air of a banquet.’ Unfortunately, the venture was never profitable and it closed in 1906 after just 12 years in business. This shape of object was called the ‘Princess Louise Bowl’, after the daughter of Queen Victoria, who was an enthusiastic customer of the Pottery – and a sculptor herself. Having met its founder Harold Rathbone at a selling exhibition, Princess Louise made a well-publicised visit to Della Robbia in 1898, making purchases and giving Rathbone permission to name an object after her. A large vase was made to commemorate the Royal visit, decorated by one of its leading artists, Cassandra Annie Walker, which is in the collection of the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead. William Henry (Willie) Williams (b. 1879) was born in Birkenhead. He began working at the Della Robbia Pottery shortly after it opened in 1894 and remained there until about 1901. Williams produced sgraffito designs for the pottery.
Marks and inscriptions
Underside of base: D [ship] R (mark for Della Robbia) W (mark for Willie Williams)
Makers and roles
Della Robbia Pottery , workshop William Henry 'Willie' Williams (b.1879), designer
References
Hyland 2013: Peter Hyland, The Della Robbia Pottery, Birkenhead, 1894-1906, Suffolk: Antique Collectors’ Club 2013, pp. 86-88