Vase with "Old Bogey" pattern

Minton(s)|Christopher Dresser

ca. 1867 · Bone china · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This vase shows Christopher Dresser’s prolific work on behalf of Minton, the largest industrial manufacturer of ceramics in Victorian England. This design was shown at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris. In his 1873 publication, The Principles of Decorative Design, Dresser described the strange horned and winged creature on this vase as "Old Bogey," which may allude to the fascination with the Occult that swept through Victorian England at the time. Indeed, "Old Bogey" was used as a term to refer to Satan, and could be found in the illustration of Eliphas Lévi’s book, Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (1855).

Artist

Minton(s)|Christopher Dresser

Date

ca. 1867

Medium

Bone china

Culture

British

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Lawrence A. and Janet Y. Larose, 2021