1877 Royal Worcester Charger with Portrait of Sir John More

A large Royal Worcester charger, dated 1877, the decoration…
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A large Royal Worcester charger, dated 1877, the decoration attributed to Thomas John Bott, earthenware, circular on a foot ring with original holes for hanging or mounting, decorated in cobalt blue and white enamel with a portrait of John more on a gilt ground, the subject identified with an inscription in enamel towards the rim centre right, impressed and printed marks underside, 36 cm diameter. Other notes: According to Wendy cook, formerly of the Museum of Royal Worcester, this is one of a series of late 1870s earthenware plates decorated with figure subjects and portraits she has seen and believes were specially created as single examples for display in the Worcester Royal porcelain Company's show rooms (private communication with vendor)., Sir John more (circa 1451-1530) was an English lawyer and judge, and the father of Sir Thomas more.. Condition: surface scratches in places, one area of misfiring to the gilded ground

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  • Attributed - A cataloguing term where the item in the opinion of the cataloguers, is a of the period of the artist, craftsman or designer, and which probably in whole or part is the work of that person.
  • Charger - An oversize dish or plate in ceramic, silver, or pewter primarily made for display, but able to be used for serving at the table or on a sideboard.
  • Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
  • Earthenware - A basic ceramic material that is fired at a low temperature. Earthenware is the basis of almost all ancient, medieval, Middle Eastern and European painted ceramics. After firing, the colour is the colour of the clay when it is dug from the ground: buff, brown and red. It is not waterproof until glazed. Creamware is a type of earthenware covered with a transparent lead glaze. Majolica, faience and delft are also earthenware covered in an opaque white tin glaze.
  • Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.

    For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.

    Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today.

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