Dish
Dateca. 1758
Artist/Maker
Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory
1745-1769
MediumSoft-paste porcelain
DimensionsL: 9 7/8"; W: 7 3/4"; H: 1 5/16"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1968-3
DescriptionOval, soft-paste porcelain dish which has been molded to resemble a shell pattern. The dish is decorated with a hand-painted German Iris. The petals are painted with pink and orange enamals. The long, slender leaves are painted with green enamels. Both ends of the dish are highlighted with purple and gilding. There is a line of red, iron oxide along the rim of the dish.Label TextDishes with this style of botanical decoration are often referred to as Hans Sloane style porcelain. Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) practiced medicine and had a passion for studying nature. In 1713 he purchased a riverside manor in Chelsea which included the Chelsea Physic Garden. Sloane encouraged medical students and the Society of Apothecaries to study, record, and experiment with local and foreign species of plants at the garden. The Chelsea’s Hans Sloane style dishes are a result of the research conducted at the Chelsea Physic Garden. Molded in the silver shape popular since the raised anchor period, this dish is decorated in the botanical style with an iris. Although several of George Ehret's sketches, drawings, and engravings of drawings of iris have survived, none is at all similar to this model.Mark(s)Brown anchor painted on reverse side. "The brown anchor commonly appears on later Red Anchor pieces as well as on some of those of the Gold Anchor period." Elizabeth Adams, CHELSEA PORCELAIN, 98.ProvenancePurchased from: Otto M. Wasserman, New York
