Pair of vases
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Designer / Maker
Designed by Lewis Foreman Day (1845-1910)
Painted by Alexander Fisher (1837-?)
Manufactured by the Torquay Terra-Cotta Company (circa 1874 – circa 1906)
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Detail
Terracotta, with painted decoration
height: 44.4 cm
English (Torquay), circa 1878
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Marked
Copyright (in brown glaze) and 956 (in pencil), under the “Sunlight” vase
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Exhibited
Paris Exposition Universelle, 1878
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Literature
The Art Journal, vol. 4, 1878, p.338
The Magazine of Art, 1878, p.177
‘The Paris Exhibition, IV’, The Pottery and Glass Trades’ Journal, 1878, p.75
Joan M. Hansen, Lewis Foreman Day (1845-1910): Unity in Design and Industry, Woodbridge, 2007, p. 169, fig. 6.7
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Collection
Speed Art Museum
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Notes
This pair of vases was exhibited in Paris by London retailers Howell & James (1819-1911).
The company was closely associated with the Aesthetic Movement and showed work by several of its leading designers.
Their stand at the Paris Exposition Universelle, 1878 was created by Day, a professional designer who collaborated with several manufacturers including Heaton, Butler & Bayne (decoration and stained glass), Jeffrey & Co. (wallpapers) and Craven Dunhill (tiles). Day wrote numerous articles and books on the subject of ornament.
The Art Journal recorded that the present vases were “from the designs of Mr Lewis F. Day; the delicately painted figures of ‘Sunlight’ and ‘Moonlight’ on the vases being the work of Mrs. [sic] Fisher.”
The manufacturer of the vases, the Torquay Terra-Cotta Company, also showed in Paris under their own name. Alexander Fisher (father of the enamel artist of the same name) headed the firm’s art department.