English Porcelain Botanical Plaque of Double Poppies, Attributed to Derby, Circa 1825

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English Porcelain Botanical Plaque of Double Poppies, Attributed to Derby,
Circa 1825

This richly colored porcelain plaque, attributed to the … Read more English Porcelain Botanical Plaque of Double Poppies, Attributed to Derby,
Circa 1825

This richly colored porcelain plaque, attributed to the Derby factory around 1825, is painted with a bouquet of double poppies in scarlet, rose-pink, crimson and white, with one white bloom streaked in iron-red, all set against a deep reddish-brown ground that makes the flowers glow. Buds, seed pods and wilting leaves in russet and green surround the blooms, and a single fading flower droops at the lower right, in the manner of the Dutch still-life painters the English porcelain decorators admired.

The plaque is presented in a cream-painted carved wood frame in the rococo taste, its pierced scrolls picked out with traces of gilt and its painted surface softened by age. At just over a foot high it is a small picture of real presence, and the frame’s pale, chalky finish sits as happily with modern upholstery as it does with antique furniture.

Hang it in a powder room, on a narrow wall in a hallway, above a writing desk or as part of a grouping of small framed pictures in a bedroom or sitting room. The saturated reds and pinks read beautifully against pale green, ochre or deep blue walls.

It comes from the collection of Susan Lasker Brody (d. 2022), daughter of the celebrated Los Angeles collectors Frances and Sidney Brody and granddaughter of Albert and Mary Lasker, whose New York and East Hampton homes were decorated by Bunny Williams. The reverse carries the label of Arthur Ackermann & Son, Inc., New York.

Dimensions
Height of frame: 12 1/2 inches (31.8 cm)
Width of frame: 11 inches (27.9 cm)
Depth of frame: 2 inches (5.1 cm)

Provenance
Arthur Ackermann & Son, Inc., New York (applied label)
The collection of Susan Lasker Brody (d. 2022), New York and East Hampton
Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge

Ref: NY10139-xmni See less