Ralph Wood Pearlware Dolphin Spill Vase, Burslem, Staffordshire, Circa 1783–1790

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Description

Ralph Wood Pearlware Dolphin Spill Vase, Burslem, Staffordshire, Circa 1783–1790

A rare eighteenth-century Staffordshire flower vase by Ralph Wood of … Read more Ralph Wood Pearlware Dolphin Spill Vase, Burslem, Staffordshire, Circa 1783–1790

A rare eighteenth-century Staffordshire flower vase by Ralph Wood of Burslem, the most celebrated name in early English pottery figures, modeled as three ribbed cornucopia flutes rising from a pair of twisting, scaly dolphins whose heads rest on a shell, with a frond of seaweed curling up on either side. The colored glazes are the Wood family signature: purplish-brown shading into green on the flutes, mottled greens on the dolphins and seaweed, and ochre yellow and brown on the shell, all running softly together under the glaze in a way no later enameled piece can match.

It is impressed underneath Ra. Wood Burslem, the mark of Ralph Wood II, and the model itself is documented: a Wedgwood invoice of November 1783, published by Frank Falkner in 1912, records Josiah and Thomas Wedgwood buying two dozen of these Dolphin Flowerpots from Ralph Wood at a shilling apiece as model number 360. An example of the same model is in the collection of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

At eight inches high it is a mantel or bookshelf piece rather than a cabinet piece, and it earns its place with a single stem or a small posy, or with nothing in it at all; the greens and browns settle easily among old leather bindings, painted furniture and other early English pottery.

Dimensions
Height: 8 inches (20.3 cm)
Width: 6½ inches (16.5 cm)
Depth: 4¼ inches (10.8 cm)

Marks
Impressed on the underside: "Ra. Wood / Burslem"

Provenance
Private Maine Collection
Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge

References
Frank Falkner, The Wood Family of Burslem (London: Chapman & Hall, 1912), p. 19, transcribing the Wedgwood invoice of 16 November 1783 ("360 24 Dolphin Flowerpots"), and Plate XXIII, illustration no. 87, a pair of Ralph Wood dolphin flower holders.
Wedgwood Museum Archives, Barlaston, WM1459, for the sale of Dolphin Flowerpots by Ralph Wood to Josiah and Thomas Wedgwood in July 1783.
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia, accession no. 1960-366, a Ralph Wood pearlware dolphin flower vase of this model, impressed Ra. Wood Burslem, 7 7/8 inches high. See less