Vase
(c. 1880)
- Medium
- earthenware
- Measurements
- 37.2 × 21.3 × 17.9 cm
- Inscription
- moulded in relief on base u.l.: V & B (in a banner)
impressed (inverted) in base l.r.: 835
incised (inverted) in base l.r.: 2 - Accession Number
- 404-D1M
- Department
- International Decorative Arts
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, 1881 - Gallery location
- Not on display
- About this work
-
This vase is covered with Classical-inspired ornament, its form referencing ancient Greek vases, in particular the Nikosthenic neck amphora; although its handles are a nineteenth-century concoction of various decorative elements. The rich selection of ornamental motifs, including palmettes; the Greek key and wave patterns; acanthus scrolls incorporating grotesque imagery; applied masks under the handles; and suspended lotus flowers which are Egyptian in inspiration, is typical of late nineteenth-century eclectic taste. The vase was purchased from the Villeroy and Boch stand at the 1880– 81 Melbourne International Exhibition which contained ‘some very substantial vases and jugs, and crockery of the most useful kind’.
