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2024-241, Plate
Plate from the Frog Service
2024-241, Plate

Plate from the Frog Service

Date1773-1774
Maker Wedgwood & Bentley (1768-1780)
OriginEngland, Staffordshire, Etruria; decorated in England, Chelsea
MediumLead-glazed earthenware (cream-colored earthenware / creamware)
DimensionsOverall: 7/8 × 9 7/8in. (2.2 × 25.1cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund
Object number2024-241
DescriptionCircular plate with a wavy edge, the edge painted black, and the rim painted with a meandering oak leaf and acorn border interrupted by a shield enclosing a green painted splayed frog. The cavetto painted with a neoclassical scalloped border between concentric lines. The well painted with a bucolic scene of a lock on a river, grazing cattle in the background with a meandering waterway and sailing vessel and church spire painted faintly in the distance. The reverse bears a black enamel painted number "221" and an impressed circle.
Label TextRoyal patronage in England and abroad helped Josiah Wedgwood secure a reputation as a manufacturer for all levels of society. This example of his work is from a service commissioned by Russia’s Catherine the Great for her castle, La Grenouillere (Frog Marsh). The service comprised 952 pieces, each painted with views of England and a splayed frog to signify the palace for which it was made. The service is still considered the most ambitious endeavor ever undertaken by a British ceramic manufacturer. More than tableware, it was a symbol of British diplomacy, illustrating all that England offered, from ancient ruins to imposing country houses to industrial achievements. This plate shows Dunnington Cliff on the River Trent, site of the King’s Mills, a major waterworks providing power for papermaking, iron-forging, flour-milling, and grinding flint for ceramics. The view is based on a 1745 print by Francois Vivares.
InscribedThe reverse bears a black enamel painted number "221".
MarkingsThe reverse bears an impressed circle.
ProvenanceIn 1774 part of service completed for Catherine the Great; July 27, 1976 - June 27, 2024, in the collection of Stanley F. Goldfein (New York, NY); 2024 [Gibson Antiques Ltd, Kent, England, and Christina and Robert Prescott-Walker]; November 2024 - present, with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).