Catalogue information

LastDodo number
7060719
Area
Ceramics
Title
Sierbord - View of Mr. Wedgwood's House at Etruria, Staffordshire - Wedgwood
Tableware / series
Decoration
Number
1129
Year
1995
Dimensions
Ovaal 33 x 20,5 cm
Details

The Green Frog Service is one of the masterpieces of "Wedgwood Porcelain". This lead-glazed pottery service was commissioned by Catherine the Great in 1773-74 for a palace under construction just outside St. Petersburg, on the way to her beloved summer estate of Tsarskoye Selo. Since the local Finnish name for the site where the palace was built was Kekerekeksinen, meaning "frog landscape", each item of the service bears a green frog in a frame in the shape of a heraldic shield. The service, intended for fifty people, comprised 944 pieces (of which 770 still exist), decorated with 1,222 views of England, Scotland and Wales, painted in shades of brown and black against a cream-colored background. The service was made in Staffordshire at Wedgwood's famous Etruria factory, which was established in 1769. From there it went to London, to Chelsea, where a team of about thirty craftsmen painted the pieces under Bentley's directions. Much of the images are of country estates and parks, but there is also a whole series dedicated to London, the surrounding area and the River Thames. The artists worked with engravings, oil paintings and watercolors, and in some cases with drawings made especially for this purpose at the respective locations. Spare parts were included in the total to replace any breakage that occurred during use. There were also soup tureens, large oval bowls with lids for game birds, round and oval bowls for meat and fish, sauce bowls, salad bowls, ice cream dishes (with a complex four-part structure), special bowls for syllabubs and stewed fruit, bottle and glass holders, and a number of other items of different design and purpose that reflect the taste, etiquette and culinary characteristics of the eighteenth century. At the same time because of the refined simplicity of its shapes and the virtuoso decoration. Each item is very practical, well thought out and easy to use.

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