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Object Label

James Callowhill was a highly skilled china decorator at the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company in England before he immigrated to the United States. Here he worked both independently and as a freelance decorator for several of the most important potteries, helping to raise the standard of craftsmanship in the ceramics industry in this country.

The plaque is one of a set of three that he made independently and exhibited to great acclaim in 1888. The vase was designed by Edward Lycett, a fellow English china painter also of great renown. Callowhill decorated and signed it as a free-lance artist at the Faience Manufacturing Company here in Brooklyn.

Caption

James Callowhill (English, 1838–1913, active United States, ca. 1885–1913). Plaque, ca. 1887–1888. Ceramic, glaze, polychrome enamels, gold enamels, 1 x 10 5/8 in. diameter (2.5 x 27 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, 2006.6.1. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Plaque

Date

ca. 1887–1888

Medium

Ceramic, glaze, polychrome enamels, gold enamels

Classification

Ceramic

Dimensions

1 x 10 5/8 in. diameter (2.5 x 27 cm)

Signatures

On reverse: on inside of footring painted in gold, "J. C-."

Markings

On reverse: Impressed at center: "OPAQUE/(Willets company logo)/PORCELAIN" On reverse: Old, yellowed rectangular paper label with red border, inscribed in blue pen: "#24AA"

Credit Line

Brooklyn Museum Collection

Accession Number

2006.6.1

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