Botanical plate with spray of apples
Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory
ca. 1755 · Soft-paste porcelain · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
These botanical plates (2016.217–.226) were produced by the Chelsea factory around 1755 and are often referred to as Chelsea "Hans Sloane" wares, in reference to the royal physician, traveler, and natural historian who helped transform the Chelsea Physic Garden into a center of botanical knowledge during the British Enlightenment. Several subjects depicted on these plates were taken from botanical illustrations published by Philip Miller, curator of Chelsea Physic Garden. Although flowers and fruits could typically be found on earlier porcelain wares from Meissen, the lively naturalism of the Chelsea botanical plates reflects a broadening public interest in the natural world, and evidence the forms of global commerce that brought exotic species from the Caribbean, the Americas, and Asia to England.
- Artist
- Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory
- Date
- ca. 1755
- Medium
- Soft-paste porcelain
- Culture
- British, Chelsea
- Department
- European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
- Credit line
- Purchase, Larry and Ann Burns Gift, in honor of Austin B. Chinn, Tory Burch Gift, Caroline Burns Gift, in honor of Austin B. Chinn, Gift of Alexander Cochran Smith, by exchange, and funds from various donors, 2016
