Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Home Beautiful: A Porcelain Pen Stand, 1820

Pen Stand
Derby, England
The VIctoria & Albert Museum




Made to grace a handsome desk, this pen tray is crafted of soft-paste porcelain which has been painted with enamels and gilded. In traditional fashion, the tray takes the form of a trough which sits on four gilt paws. The inside of the trough is adorned with a scene of a landscape with mountains, a cottage, and a waterfall. Gilt swans on pedestals issue foliage and hyacinth blooms. The stand’s exterior is punctuates with a scalloped border of turquoise enamel which is painted with lamps and floral sprays.

The work of the Derby Porcelain Factory, and dating to about 1820, the pen stand’s enamels are the work of Daniel Lucas, Sr. (1788-1867).



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