This is a stunning pair of pedestal vases brought out by Royal Worcester in 1899, painted with fruits and flowers and signed by the famous porcelain artist William Hawkins.
The original Worcester factory was founded in the mid 18th Century and belongs to the group of famous pioneering potteries in Britain. It went through various changes and take overs, and in the mid 19th Century it merged with Chamberlains and Grainger, both earlier split-offs, taking the new name "Royal Worcester". The factory distinguished itself with its extremely high quality of artwork, hiring the best artists and always coming up with very vivid designs full of flowers, birds and fruits. It was in operation until the early 21st Century but eventually succumbed to the changing times.
These vases are beautifully potted in a bold baluster shape with two upturned handles. This shape with the number 1969 was made with and without pedestals and in different sizes; this was the largest size and received pedestals, presumably to stabilise these large items.
The vases have a strong emerald green ground with beautiful scroll details in raised gilt, part of the scrolls in a wonderful colour-clash of a turquoise blue ground. Each vase has a reserve with beautiful fruits painted by the famous artist William Hawkins. In typical Hawkins style, the fruits look very real and have all sorts of small blemishes and fruit flies; Hawkins painted things the way he saw.
Hawkins worked for Royal Worcester from 1874 to 1928, shortly before his death in 1930. He was not only one of their top artists, but also the foreman of the painters' department. Known to be a kind and helpful tutor, he was an excellent educator and trained generations of talented painters. In his free time he was a keen sportsman, as well as painting local landscapes on little pieces of ivory. Items painted by Hawkins are now collectors' items because of the high complexity of his use of colours and the freedom of his artistry; this was difficult to achieve given that each colour had to be fired separately at the appropriate temperature, so an artwork had to be meticulously planned and executed.
The vases carry the Royal Worcester mark with year ciphers for 1894 and 1899 (but were clearly brought out as a pair in 1899), as well as the shape number 1969, a shape that was launched in 1897. The images are signed by the artist.
An image of two very similar vases painted by C. Baldwyn can be found in plate VII in Henry Sandon's book "Royal Worcester Porcelain".
CONDITION REPORT The vases are in perfect antique condition without any damage, repairs or crazing, and minimal wear; there are a couple of tiny blemishes on the green ground as visible in the pictures.
Antique British porcelain is never perfect. Kilns were fired on coal in the 1800s and early 1900s, and this meant that china from that period can have some firing specks from flying particles. British makers were also known for their experimentation, and sometimes this resulted in technically imperfect results. Due to the shrinkage in the kiln, items can have small firing lines or develop crazing over time, which should not be seen as damage but as an imperfection of the maker's recipes, probably unknown at the time of making. Items have often been used for many years and can have normal signs of wear, and gilt can have signs of slight disintegration even if never handled. I will reflect any damage, repairs, obvious stress marks, crazing or heavy wear in the item description but some minor scratches, nicks, stains and gilt disintegration can be normal for vintage items and need to be taken into account.
There is widespread confusion on the internet about the difference between chips and nicks, or hairlines and cracks. I will reflect any damage as truthfully as I can, i.e. a nick is a tiny bit of damage smaller than 1mm and a chip is something you can easily see with the eye; a glazing line is a break in the glazing only; hairline is extremely tight and/or superficial and not picked up by the finger; and a crack is obvious both to the eye and the finger. Etcetera - I try to be as accurate as I can and please feel free to ask questions or request more detailed pictures!
DIMENSIONS each vase is 38cm (15") high, 14.5cm (5.75") wide incl. handles and 13.5cm (5.25") wide at narrowest side.
Royal Worcester pair of pedestal vases, emerald green, fruits by W.Hawkins, 1899
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