Plaque

James Callowhill

ca. 1890–1900 · Earthenware, enamel, and gold · The American Wing

Callowhill, renowned for his decorative raised-gold-paste technique, was an important decorator at the Worcester Royal Porcelain Works in England. He, his equally gifted brother Thomas, and his son Sidney emigrated to the United States in the 1880s and worked for important art potteries such as the Faience Manufacturing Company in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and the Willets Manufacturing Company in Trenton, New Jersey, decorating wares in the Aesthetic style. Although James later moved to Boston to complete a major commission for Louis Prang’s lithographic firm, he continued to decorate ceramics. This plaque, painted in polychrome enamel with a bird on a branch among elaborate flowers and foliage and enriched with raised gold paste, is characteristic of Callowhill’s best work and may have been exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

Artist

James Callowhill

Date

ca. 1890–1900

Medium

Earthenware, enamel, and gold

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Emma and Jay Lewis, in memory of David Goldberg, 2001