A nose for the rose

I have been writing about various porcelain artists in the last year, and today is the turn of Moses Webster, who became well known for his work at the Derby factory in the early 19th Century.

Webster was a fine young man who was trained in the style of the renowned painter William Billingsley at Nantgarw. He then worked at the Worcester factory for a few years (between 1821 and 1825), and then went on to Derby, where he worked until his death in 1870.

You can see his work on this gorgeous "shell dish" from a Bloor Derby dessert service - it must have been painted in about 1825 and is available in my shop.

Moses was famous for painting very fine landscapes, but also for his flowers, particularly roses. Having worked with Billingsley, he knew how to paint a good rose, and it was his passion. So much so, that he didn't like his job at Worcester and left after a few years.

Why did he leave so soon? Well, as roses were painted in great numbers at Chelsea and Derby, the Worcester factory decided to differ and hence the Worcester factory managers didn't allow the painters to include them in their posies. Moses didn't like this and kept smuggling in some roses, probably to the despair of his superiors.

One morning he arrived at his work bench and found this brilliant "impromptu" poem, written by a young poetically talented fellow painter:

If Moses composes

His posies of roses

Of sweeter he can't them compose;

No flower else that grows

Can compare with the rose,

If you doubt it consult your own nose.

I love finding out these endearing little details about the people who painted all this beautiful porcelain... can you imagine the young lads, the conversations they had, the teasing, their individual quirks?

Moses left for Derby when the opportunity arose, and remained there the rest of his life, painting wonderful landscapes and, of course, roses... lots of them.

This particular dish has a bold posy (with a rose) in the centre, extremely finely painted garlands around the rim, and very fine gilding. At first sight the design might seem over the top flowery - but have a careful look and fall in love with those wonderful little flowers dancing around the dish.

Where to find things

You can you can find all my Derby items here, and you can find all my available items here. If you want to stay up to date with new additions, find me on Instagram, where I put up pictures with a story several times a week.

Happy weekend, and get your roses out! 🌹🌹🌹

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This week's featured items:​

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Moses Webster dish

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