A Newsletter of the China Students’ Club of Boston Volume 13, Issue 3 www.chinastudentsclub.org
May 2010
A Message from Our President Dear fellow members, We are fortunate to have had such a great series of programs this year, and it looks like we will have another terrific lineup for next year! Stay tuned for the 2010-11 list of programs in the club directory (the “Blue Book”), which you should receive towards the end of summer. Please remember to renew your China Students’ Club membership by July so that you can be included in the Blue Book. You can renew at our annual meeting on May 27 by handing your check directly to Greg Lovell, or send him a check by mail. You can print out a membership form on our website at www.chinastudentsclub.org. I am pleased to report that we are moving forward with plans for an exhibition celebrating the China Students’ Club 75th anniversary. Although that anniversary has passed, we are now exploring the possibility of displaying pieces from members at the new Discovery Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The theme will be the ceramic trade in New England, and we will continue to accept suggestions from members on objects they
may want to include from their collections. More information will be forthcoming as plans develop! Please mark Saturday, September 11, on your calendars as the day we will take a field trip to Old Sturbridge Village for a day of exploring “Ceramics in New England.” We will have an opportunity to see most of the ceramics collection, which will be pulled out of storage for easy viewing. Ceramics scholar Pat Halfpenny will lecture on ceramics for the American market, and I will be on hand to discuss ceramics used in central Massachusetts. In addition, the pottery staff at Sturbridge will be firing the kiln at the historic Hervey Brooks pottery so there will be plenty to see and do! More details will be sent out before September. Please help spread the word about the China Students’ Club so that we can continue to grow! Do invite friends with an interest in ceramics to our programs so that they can see what we have to offer. I look forward to seeing you all soon! All the best, Nan Wolverton, President
Nicholas Johnson on “English Art Pottery: Victorian Decoration and Beyond” Reviewed by Jeff Brown It is always interesting to hear directly from a passionate collector and so it was on January 28 when fellow CSC member Nicholas Johnson spoke to our group for the first lecture of 2010. Nicholas spoke on “English Art Pottery: Victorian Decoration and Beyond,” an interest of his since his college days in London when the purchase of a piece for a pound was an extravagant acquisition. He became attracted early on to the products of Doulton in Lambeth, one of the largest, earliest and most innovative of the Victorian art potteries. There
was certainly plenty to choose from as he estimates there were about fifty art potteries in England during the last quarter of the 19th century. As Doulton’s was considered one of the best, he used that throughout his talk as an exemplar of the whole industry. Founded in 1815, Doulton was originally a manufacturer of brown stonewares, mostly highly utilitarian wares such as drainpipes, which became the basis of their success. The company was taken over from the Continued on page 2
We are sorry to report that China Students’ Club member Anne Kuckro of Wethersfield, Connecticut, passed away in March of 2010. Our condolences go out to Anne’s husband Lee Kuckro.
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English Art Pottery Continued from page 1 founder John Doulton by his son Henry around 1840. Henry was very well-educated but decided to enter the business to learn the trade from the inside, and he became an accomplished thrower in his own right. Around 1860 the principal of the Lambeth School of Art approached Henry about introducing art students into an industrial environment in order to learn and create. By about 1870 Doulton finally acquiesced to these persistent requests. One of the earliest students at Doulton was Hannah Barlow, an impoverished and orphaned girl from Worcestershire, who was forced to come to London to earn a living. She eventually also settled a sister Florence and a crippled brother at Doulton, which illustrates some of the social conditions that acted upon women, the disabled, and the impoverished at the time. Doulton often had many artists working for them who came from rather humble circumstances. By 1880-85 Doulton expanded and had fifty different studios set up with a dozen or so artists in each one, a very large concern indeed. An industrial division of labor prevailed as the pots were made by throwers and turners and brought in wet to the artists to be deco-
rated. There were principal artists who marked their wares with a three initial monogram, assistant artists who were allowed a two-initial monogram, and assistant-assistants who impressed a single letter in order to mark their simple contributions, such as applying beads to a pot. Each piece was unique, but Doulton did also produce wares en masse which Nicholas refered to as “quasi art pottery.” These pieces, though made in great quantities, still required some handwork. Art pottery responded to a public demand for the artistic that was stimulated by the Aesthetic/Art movement. What Nicholas’s talk and collection focused on was true art pottery for which he has developed a list of criteria: It is important to keep in mind that each piece is unique and usually non-functional. The decoration eschews the mechanical or overly realistic and remains true to the materials from which the piece was made. Pieces were made with innovative technology of the time (glazes and firing techniques) and with an industrial division of labor. Wares often have a “worked” surface. Other criteria that could be considered are that pieces were sometimes made to the specifications of a known deContinued on page 3
From left: Covered jug with linear and beaded design and contemporary silver mount in Aesthetic style, Frank Butler, Doulton Lambeth, 1874; Early beaker by Martin Brothers, Southall, 1878, saltglazed, design in the manner of Christopher Dresser; Brannam vase by John Dewdney, N. Devon, 1887
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English Art Pottery Continued from page 2 signer; the movement employed women or other underprivileged groups of the time (such as the aforementioned Barlow family), and that pieces in general avoided a pure white ground. By the beginning of the 20th century there was a huge shift away from decoration toward color, form, and glaze texture as the primary elements of art pottery. The days of heavily worked, over-decorated wares were over. The surface and the form became the decoration. Although he used Doulton as an example, Nicholas amply demonstrated that there was a plethora of art potteries during this time. There was the Fulham Pottery, also in London, as well as the Martin Brothers in
Southall, a small concern, sometimes near bankruptcy, that struggled to find itself, but along the way created some very interesting pieces in the Christopher “Dresseresque” aesthetic. There was also the Morris Company in Chelsea that engaged the brilliant designer William DeMorgan, as well as potteries throughout the country such as Bernard Moore in Staffordshire, the Fishley family and Brannam Pottery in North Devon, Moorcroft, Pilkington, the list goes on. And so, picking his way through the London antiques markets, spending a pound or two here and there, over the years Nicholas has garnered a wealth of information and a truly fine collection, a wealth that he kindly shared with us and for which we were all most grateful.
Left: Pilkington luster jar and cover by William Mycock, Birmingham, 1906 Right: Pilkington luster ware by Richard Joyce, 1911. Ginger jar form painted in green and red with overpainted iridescent goldfish and bubbles See also flask at top right of page 6
James Tuck on “Archaeological Discoveries at the Colony of Avalon, Newfoundland” Reviewed by Jeff Brown Our group met on March 25 at the College Club to enjoy a talk on “Archaeological Discoveries at the Colony of Avalon, Newfoundland” by Dr. James Tuck, the Colony’s Chief Archeologist and friend of CSC member Louise Richardson. The settlement Dr. Tuck was focusing on was called Ferryland and the period he discussed was roughly divided into three segments: the “pre-Calvert” period from
the island’s discovery in 1497 until the arrival of George Calvert, Lord Baltimore in 1621; the latter’s period of influence, until-1638; and then the “Kirke” period until 1697 when the French destroyed the settlement. Located about fifty miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, Ferryland was a thriving cod fishing port for most of its five centuries of existence. The settlement of Continued on page 4
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Archaeological Discoveries at Avalon Continued from page 3 Ferryland was built around “the pool,” a well protected harbor. John Cabot II discovered the abundance of cod in this area, which led to a seasonal European settlement from early in the 16th century. Early ceramic evidence from this period includes pieces of clay pipes (which continue down through the archaeological record) and also North Devon tall pots— the ubiquitous storage jars of the period. There are also examples of Iberian redware, pottery from southwest France and Breton cooking pots, most likely used aboard ships on the passage over. Ferryland, though, is best known as the first New World settlement of George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, a Jacobean courtier very interested in the exploration and development potential of newly discovered lands. He was a Yorkshireman, a closet Catholic, and a principal Secretary of State to James I. In 1620 he purchased a plot of land in the Avalon peninsula and in 1621 sent about a dozen settlers over to commence colonization. A small, but substantially built settlement was soon constructed around the pool, the foundations and walls of which can still be seen today. A forge was built as well as a brewery and bakery which contained a North Devon redware oven. In 1625 Calvert’s Catholicism became known and he left his duties at court, albeit in the good graces of the King who created him
First Baron Baltimore. He visited the settlement in 1627 and returned again with his family in 1628. He built a “mansion,” 36’x33' in area and two stories tall, but it only housed the family for a year and a half as they returned to England, a bit done in by the trying Newfoundland winters. Ceramic evidence from this short period is not that plentiful: North Devon pipkins (earthenware cooking pots with three lug feet and a single handle), other cooking pots, Rhenish stoneware, and jugs. The third chapter of the story begins with Samuel de Champlain and his inroads into Canada and the establishment of Quebec during this period. King Charles I of England resented this French presence in North America and contracted with a pair of brothers named Kirke to expel these interlopers. They proceeded to defeat the French at Quebec and capture Champlain himself. Eventually, through diplomacy and treaty, England returned the conquered lands to the French, but rewarded the brothers Kirke with the island of Newfoundland. They arrived in 1637, booted Calvert’s representative out in 1638 and moved into the mansion house. The Kirkes came from a mercantile family and really turned the fishery into a profitable enterprise. Ceramic evidence from this period includes, again, more clay pipes, much larger in size, even one from Turkey and one bearing Kirke’s cipher (most likely made in Virginia)—simple items but evidence of the remarkable circulation of goods during this period. Archaeological evidence from this time is more plentiful and varied as Continued on page 5
Left: early 17th century Rhenish stoneware jug Middle: early to mid-16th-century Breton cooking pot Right: Saintonge pitcher, mid-16th century
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Archaeological Discoveries at Avalon Continued from page 4 the settlement was thriving and the Kirkes sought to reinforce their social status with the material objects they possessed. The Kirkes, though, were Royalists and during the Commonwealth David Kirke was recalled to England (and foolishly went) where he was sued by Lord Baltimore over the ownership of Ferryland and died in jail during the litigation. His very resourceful widow Sara stayed on in Ferryland and became one of the first (and most successful) female entrepreneurs in British North America, running the operation from the 1650s through the 1680s. Ferryland survived a Dutch attack in 1673, but was not so lucky in 1696 when a fleet of seven French ships attacked and decimated the settlement. Lots of ceramic evidence exists from this turbulent period, including a piece of Italian sgraffito ware, North Devon wares, milkpans, a rare bedpan or urinal, Staffordshire slipwares, Rhenish brownwares, Portuguese wares (some with armorial decoration), and lots of tin-glazed earthenwares—everything from common ointment pots of every size to shards decorated with chinoiseries, to a set of bowls and plates especially made for Sara Kirke and bearing her initials. A true rarity in this group is a
large brown stoneware storage jar, about two feet tall and two feet in diameter, which had its origins in Burma, where they are still being made today! Other rare curiosities are examples of terra sigillata—upscale fine redware made in Estremoz, Portugal, during the 17th Century, so fine that there were examples of it in the cabinet of Charles I. All these treasures attest to the settlement’s success, its international connections, and the social aspirations of the Kirkes and Ferryland. The Kirkes and much of the population were scattered after the French invasion. Some returned the following Spring and set up a new settlement on an island in the harbor, which still exists today.
Pieces from the collection of Lady Sara Kirke: Left, stoneware storage jar from Martiban, Burma, Mid-17th century. Top, terra sigillata costrel from Estremoz, Portugal. 17th century. Right, one of a set of tablewares personalized with Sara Kirke’s initials
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Bits and Pieces Here is a sampling of the pieces brought by CSC members to our annual “Bits and Pieces” session.
Japanese blue & white bowl, marked “made by Zoshuntei Sanpo,” 1840-1870
Earthenware cup of unknown origin
Pilkington Royal Lancastrian flask by Gordon Forsyth, 1906
Cup and saucer with probably fake Wedgwood savory molds, sizes 5, 6, and 7, Sevres mark, French, 20th century ca. 1900. Miniature molds in background
Leeds creamware bowl and cover, 20th century
Pearlware mug, probably made in the Ralph Wedgwood (Josiah’s nephew) factory, ca. 1790
Large maiolica plate with crest, probably Italian
Continued on page 7
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Upcoming Ceramics Events CSC Meetings Meeting at 1 PM at the College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston 5/27: The Vivian Hawes Memorial Lecture and Annual Meeting and Tea: “Ivory, Cream Colour, or Queensware? English Creamware at Historic Deerfield;” Amanda E. Lange, Curator of Historic Interiors, Historic Deerfield, CSC member. Auctions 5/14, Christie’s, London (Chinese) 5/31, Christie’s, Hong Kong (Chinese) 9/9, Christie’s, London (Chinese). Exhibitions Alistair Sampson Collection of English Creamware, ongoing at the Flynt Center, Historic Deerfield Asian Journeys: Collecting Art in Post-War America: the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd
Collection from the Asia Society, New York. McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Chestnt Hill, MA. Until 6/6. At the Sackler Gallery, Washington, DC: Contemporary Japanese Porcelain Taking Shape: Ceramics in Southeast Asia At the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC: Ancient Chinese Pottery and Bronze Arts of the Islamic World (including ceramics) Korean Ceramics Black & White: Chinese Ceramics from the 10th14th Centuries.
Other events Archaeology Field Shool, Strawbery Banke, Portsmouth, NH, 7/5-16. For more nformation contact Sheila Charles, scharles@strawberybanke.org, or 603-4227521.
On page 3 of the January 2010 issue of Shards we mislabeled the bottom right-hand illustration. The painted stair risers are not in the Warner house; they are in Deb Richards’s house, and were actually painted by her. We apologize to Deb for this misattribution! The review of Ron Fuchs’s April 22 talk on the Reeves collection of Chinese export porcelain was not available in time for this issue. It will appear in the next one, due to be published in September.
Bits and Pieces Continued from page 6
Top: Salopian cup and saucer, c. 1790 Bottom: fishdecorated cup and saucer, perhaps Japanese, or Kangxi period Chinese Yellow Staffordshire transfer-printed plate, marked “COLOMBIA LIBRE” and “SER LIBRE O MORIR,“ commemorating Colombia’s independence More pictures on next page
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Contents A message from our president ............................................................................................................................. Nicholas Johnson on English art pottery, report by Jeff Brown ........................................................................ James Tuck on archaeological discoveries at Avalon, report by Jeff Brown ................................................... Bits and pieces ...................................................................................................................................................... Upcoming ceramics events ...................................................................................................................................
Seen at “Bits & Pieces:� Top: Vienna Du Paquier chocolate cup and trembleuse saucer, ca. 1725 Bottom: Chinese export Imari large platter, 1720-1740
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