Royal Worcester Pot Pourri Vases with Rembrandt and Rubens Reserves

A pair of Royal Worcester covered pot pourri vases, shape 519,…
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A pair of Royal Worcester covered pot pourri vases, shape 519, 1870s (date ciphers indistinct), the reserves by Josiah Rushton, each ovoid on a square foot with a pierced cover and a pair of handles to the shoulders modelled as entwined serpents, turquoise ground with gilt details, the front of each body with a gilt-framed reserve, one decorated with 'Saskia with a red Flower' after Rembrandt, the other with 'A portrait of Helena Fourment' after Rubens, each signed Jr (conjoined) lower left, the reverse sides with an arrangement of a hat, feathers, and foliage in gold, the undersides respectively incised 'Rembrandt' and 'Rubens' and with printed factory marks, 28 cm high. Other notes: the portraits on which the reserves are based, respectively of Rembrandt's and Rubens's wives, are now in the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, and the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon.. Condition: chips and minor restorations to the socle, wear and possible restoration to the handles, scattered cosmetic restorations, remnant residue to each rim and underside of each lid, with gilding loss, ever so slight crazing to ground, gilt beading missing, the whole finial replaced with a plain gilt metal finial fixed with a screw from the underside of the cover

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  • Crazing - A network of fine cracks in the glaze of a ceramic item, caused by uneven shrinking during the firing process.
  • Oviform /ovoid - The outline loosely resembling the shape of an egg.
  • Incised - A record of a name, date or inscription, or a decoration scratched into a surface, usually of a glass or ceramic item with a blunt instrument to make a coarse indentation. Compare with engraving where the surface is cut with a sharp instrument such as a metal needle or rotating tool to achieve a fine indentation.
  • Socle - The short plinth, usually cylindrical, that serves as a pedestal for a sculpture or vase
  • Finial - An architectural decoration, found on the upper parts of of an object. On furniture they are usually found on pediments, canopies and shelf supports. On smaller ceramic or silver items, such as spoons, they may decorate the top of the item itself, or the lid or cover where they provide a useful handle for removal.

    Finials have a variety of shapes and forms. They may be urn-shaped, baluster shaped round or spiral, but usually taper into an upper point. Many real life shapes may also be used as finials, such as pineapples, berries, pinecones, buds, lotus and acorns. Sometimes animals such as a lion are depicted, or fish and dolphins.
  • 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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