Set of Majolica Heron Plates

Victorian

Circa 1900 | Unknown

A set of eight antique late nineteenth century majolica plates decorated with a heron and its chick set amongst reeds. The heron was a popular motif inspired by the nineteenth century craze for Japonisme and all the great majolica makers made many different items celebrating the heron; this unknown maker was as inspired to celebrate nature in the form of these plates (see The Gen).

DIMENSIONS: Diameter 19 cm.

SIGNATURES, MARKINGS & INSCRIPTIONS: Unattributed. Impressed number 120.

CONDITION: The plates are in overall very good condition with wear consistent with an antique age and use.

REFERENCES: For an example of a heron plate by Wedgwood see Majolica Pottery, Mariann Katz-Marks, Collectors Books, 1989, p. 57.

~~~~~~~~~~~

THE GEN

“Some majolica objects for the home were more decorative than functional. By the 1870s, for example, the fashion for all things Japanese pervaded interior design, and near-life-size majolica depictions of birds, such as herons, cranes, storks, and peacocks rendered in a style similar to Japanese bronzes of the period, were thought to epitomize the ideal of beauty. Minton and Holdcroft, among other firms, created them to adorn entrance halls and conservatories. Bold and colorful, they also appealed to the nineteenth-century taste and enthusiasm for objects inspired by nature.” (Majolica Mania: Transatlantic Pottery in England and the United States, 1850–1915, Susan Webber (ed.), Bard Centre and Yale University Press, 2021, p. 137)

~~~~~~~~~~~