Delftware Plate, Lambeth, c.1765

This delftware plate was produced in the London borough of Lambeth, probably at the factory of Abigail Griffith, in around the mid-eighteenth century. Made of clay fired to a whitish colour in the biscuit kiln, delftware was then glazed with a mixture consisting of a lead base and tin oxide. The decoration was painted directly onto this wet tin glaze, making it impossible to correct mistakes.

The painter in this case has attempted to imitate Chinese porcelain, with a scene of a figure in a landscape. The outer edge is painted with stylized leaves and flowers. Forms were often simplified with delftware as the painter had to work quickly on the wet glaze. The colours blue, red, green, and yellow were created through the use of cobalt, iron oxide, copper, and antimony respectively, and then fired at high temperatures. The stilt marks can clearly be seen on the reverse of both plates, showing how the wares were raised in the kiln during the firing process.

Several delft potteries were situated in the London Borough of Lambeth; most notably one at Howard House, Church Street, and another at Fore Street.

This plate was purchased with a similar example bearing the collector's paper label of the late Frank Britton, a connoisseur of British delftware and publisher of several works, including English Delftware in the Bristol Collection (Sotheby's Publications, 1982).

Condition: Excellent - no restoration, just tiny rim chips and a few minor glaze cracks. The rich tin glaze has fine cracks, a typical feature of most eighteenth-century English delftware, and the rim chips are quite small. It is almost impossible to find undamaged delft, owing to the fragility of tin glazed earthenware, however these plates are of exceptionally fine quality.

Dimensions: Diameter 9" (23cm)

Delftware: The Tin-glazed Earthenware of the British Isles, Michael Archer (V&A/HMSO, 1997).