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Fluted dish
Made at: Chelsea Manufactory (England, active 1745–1784)
English
about 1752–54
Object Place: Europe, England
Medium/Technique
Soft-paste porcelain decorated in polychrome enamels
Dimensions
4.4 cm (1 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Rita and Frits Markus
Accession Number1983.648
CollectionsEurope
DescriptionThe deep saucer-shaped dish was formed over a mold that had thirty-two flutes at the edge. The rim was finished by hand, some of the scallops being more rounded than others. The foot ring is circular, of a V-section, and has been ground level after the glaze firing; it has discolored to a dirty, yellowish tone, but more recent small chips on the rim show the paste to be white. There are three stilt marks underneath, 4 x 4 x 3.7 cm.(1 9/16 x 1 9/16 x 1 7/16 in.) apart. Many black flecks are in the glaze on both the front and the back, and there is some gray clouding at the rim on the back. Examination by transmitted light shows the paste to be off-white with some small moons, typical of the raised anchor but also of the early red anchor period. Part of a botanical service, the dish is decorated on the inside with a cut plant with orange berries growing from the stem and blossoms with orange calyxes and puce petals. The stem and leaves are green, more yellowish toward the center, and are shaded and outlined with brown. There are two butterflies: the larger, at the left, has yellow, orange, and puce wings; the smaller, at the right, has wings in two shades of puce. The entire design was first sketched on by the artist in thin puce lines. The rim is chocolate brown.
ProvenanceNew York; By 1955, Rita and Frits Markus; 1983, gift of Rita and Frits Markus to the MFA.