Yellow glazed four-handled vase with grotesque masks by Christopher Dresser, 1834-1904

Yellow glazed four-handled vase with grotesque masks

Designer: Christopher Dresser, 1834-1904

1892-96

Earthenware

9 x 6 3⁄4 in (23 x 17 cm)

Impressed on base facsimile signature “Chr Dresser, 254”

Source: The Studio

Collection: John Scott

Source: Masterpieces from the John Scott Collection.

See commentary below

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Commentary

“I have an enormous passion for the best of the Doctor’s designs. Dresser was originally a botanist and very many of his designs are based on natural formalised leaves, branches and flowers. His range was colossal, metal work, ceramics, glass, architecture, furniture, textiles, wallpaper, etc. There is much of the whimsy and grotesque about Dresser’s work.” — John Scott

This idiosyncratic vase is symptomatic of Dresser’s keen eye for historic and foreign prototypes, which he searched out in London museums and international exhibitions. Throughout his career Dresser borrowed ideas from across the globe in his pursuit of innovative design. He was particularly interested in the grotesque, sources included non-Western civilisations such as Japan, China, Egypt, Central and South America.

This vase is made of cast earthenware in Ault’s no.318 shape and the vibrant yellow is one of the pottery’s most distinctive glazes. In 1893 Dresser signed a contract with the firm to supply designs, in which he specified that the pieces should bear his signature in facsimile. An identical version of this vase is in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Reference

Durant, Stuart. Christopher Dresser. London, 1993. P.123

Gere, Charlotte, & Michael Whiteway. Nineteenth Century Design: from Pugin to Mackintosh. London 1993. Pp. 212–13, pl.284.

Lyons, Harry. Christopher Dresser: The People’s Designer, 1834–1904. Suffolk: 2005. Pp.56–57, 142, pl.256 [showing the vase in situ in the John Scott Collection].

Masterpieces from the John Scott Collection. London: The Fine Art Society, No. 4.

Last modified 11 May 2013