Date: circa 1870
Period: Mid-Late Victorian
Maker: Brown-Westhead, Moore
Brown-Westhead, Moore here reproduces in porcelain Japanese lacquerware that for centuries captivated European royalty and aristocracy. The cobalt blue ground imitates the unctuous black of Japanese urushi (漆) lacquer. It provides a stunning contrast to the gold and platinum reliefs of lily-of-the-valley, fuchsia and a rose, inspired by Japanese techniques of metal inlay and maki-e (蒔絵, ‘sprinkled picture’) decoration made by sprinkling metallic powder, usually gold, onto wet lacquer.
The opening up of Japan in the mid-to-late 19th Century brought Japanese traditional arts and culture to a wider public in the West and was a sensation. This dessert plate dates from the peak of the Japonism craze, around 1870. The border is easily overlooked, but the delicate gilt foliage on a creamy white ground makes a perfect frame for the central design.
The pattern number, B5260, is painted on the base.
CONDITION: Close to perfect. A few surface scratches and a tiny spot of missing gilt on the rim edge are revealed on close inspection.
Diameter: 22.7 cm
Net weight: 419 g
Medium: Porcelain (bone china)
Origin: Stoke-on-Trent, England
For background on the factory, see Brown-Westhead, Moore & Cauldon in Makers & Artists
