As some of you know, I include my definition of "figures" to include plaques with figural subjects, and recently, I was able to photograph two very special pairs of early Staffordshire pottery plaques that fit my definition. Both pairs relate to the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars that followed it.
The first pair commemorates King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, who were both executed by guillotine before jeering crowds during the Reign of Terror. In January, 1793, Louis XVI faced his executioner with dignity. "I die innocent; I forgive my enemies," were his last words.That October, Marie Antoinette maintained her regal composure to the end, even apologizing to her executioner when she stepped on his foot. "Pardon, Monsier. I did not do it on purpose," were her last words.
Both plaques, appropriately edged in black, were probably made around 1793, and both are simply exquisite. Each is about 9.5" in height, in high relief, and carefully painted. Notice her tightly twisted ringlets and the ermine trimming her garment. She looks much as she does in her portraits, but he a little less so.
The first pair commemorates King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, who were both executed by guillotine before jeering crowds during the Reign of Terror. In January, 1793, Louis XVI faced his executioner with dignity. "I die innocent; I forgive my enemies," were his last words.That October, Marie Antoinette maintained her regal composure to the end, even apologizing to her executioner when she stepped on his foot. "Pardon, Monsier. I did not do it on purpose," were her last words.
Both plaques, appropriately edged in black, were probably made around 1793, and both are simply exquisite. Each is about 9.5" in height, in high relief, and carefully painted. Notice her tightly twisted ringlets and the ermine trimming her garment. She looks much as she does in her portraits, but he a little less so.
Initially, many British people sympathized with the French revolutionaries, but Louis' execution in January 1793 shocked the public to its core, and the next month Britain and France were at war. Europe united in a broad coalition against France that ushered in the Napoleonic era, which ended in 1815.
The Battle of Vitoria in Spain in June 1813 was a decisive encounter in the Napoleonic era. Here, Britain under Wellington resoundingly defeat the French, who then fled from the Iberian peninsula. Vitoria was a pivotal battle that led to Napoleon's abdication the following year, and the pair of plaques below celebrate two aspects of that conflict.
The Battle of Vitoria in Spain in June 1813 was a decisive encounter in the Napoleonic era. Here, Britain under Wellington resoundingly defeat the French, who then fled from the Iberian peninsula. Vitoria was a pivotal battle that led to Napoleon's abdication the following year, and the pair of plaques below celebrate two aspects of that conflict.
The first plaque depicting Wellington and two celebrating soldiers is impressed WELLINGTON and PEACE, At Vitoria, Wellington (then Arthur Wellesly, the Marquess of Wellington) commanded British, Portuguese, and Spanish forces, and King Joseph Bonaparte of Spain and Marshal Jean-Baptise Jourdan commanded the French army. It was Wellington's brilliant strategy that forced the French to retreat, thereby ending the French occupation of Spain.
The second plaque depicts soldiers with a canon and treasure chest. The impression PLUNDER alludes to the chaotic, undisciplined British ransacking of wagons that the French army abandoned as it fled across the Pyrennes. All the armies in the the Peninsular War had looted local inhabitants without restraint, but the French had excelled. Their plunder, estimated then at GBP1 million, included national treasures, artworks from Spanish palaces, the contents of the French treasury, and Joseph Bonaparte's silver chamber pot! In July 1815, a Royal Warrant granted Wellington's army GBP800,000 for booty captured been 1809 and 1815, this no doubt being a sliver or the total haul. Painted on the cannon is180, but I don't know its significance,.
Each plaques has JUNE 1813 painted on the reverse. Both are of unusually fine quality and have been decorated carefully with silver luster. Their potter was, without doubt, a perfectionist. The enameling has been executed with meticulously care--notice how the vine leaves on the second plaque have been both veined and outlined. Also the date, rather than the typical semi-legible scrawl, has been painstakingly executed. Both are particularly heavy because they were made from thick slabs of clay, and their backs have been carefully flattened and smoothed. I expect the potter used thick slabs to minimize shrinkage and buckling during firing, and he succeeded.
The only other plaque I have recorded commemorating Vitoria is quite different in appearance, but it is charming. It uses the same motifs as the first plaque (with modifications to the tree), and the ribbon on the left is impressed VITORIA rather than PEACE. As often happened, shrinkage in firing caused it to buckle slightly, and shrinkage also accounts for the central motif being a little smaller than that on the plaque made by the unknown potter with a type-A personality.
The second plaque depicts soldiers with a canon and treasure chest. The impression PLUNDER alludes to the chaotic, undisciplined British ransacking of wagons that the French army abandoned as it fled across the Pyrennes. All the armies in the the Peninsular War had looted local inhabitants without restraint, but the French had excelled. Their plunder, estimated then at GBP1 million, included national treasures, artworks from Spanish palaces, the contents of the French treasury, and Joseph Bonaparte's silver chamber pot! In July 1815, a Royal Warrant granted Wellington's army GBP800,000 for booty captured been 1809 and 1815, this no doubt being a sliver or the total haul. Painted on the cannon is180, but I don't know its significance,.
Each plaques has JUNE 1813 painted on the reverse. Both are of unusually fine quality and have been decorated carefully with silver luster. Their potter was, without doubt, a perfectionist. The enameling has been executed with meticulously care--notice how the vine leaves on the second plaque have been both veined and outlined. Also the date, rather than the typical semi-legible scrawl, has been painstakingly executed. Both are particularly heavy because they were made from thick slabs of clay, and their backs have been carefully flattened and smoothed. I expect the potter used thick slabs to minimize shrinkage and buckling during firing, and he succeeded.
The only other plaque I have recorded commemorating Vitoria is quite different in appearance, but it is charming. It uses the same motifs as the first plaque (with modifications to the tree), and the ribbon on the left is impressed VITORIA rather than PEACE. As often happened, shrinkage in firing caused it to buckle slightly, and shrinkage also accounts for the central motif being a little smaller than that on the plaque made by the unknown potter with a type-A personality.
