Dish

Date1752-1758

Artist/Maker Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory (1745-1769)

MediumPorcelain, Soft-paste

DimensionsDiam: 9 11/16"; H: 1 3/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1967-593

DescriptionSoft-paste porcelain plate with lobed rim. The hand-painted decoration is asymmetrical and in the Hans Sloane style. Two large leaves painted with green and yellow and a cluster of ‘nuts’ that resemble a castor oil plant (also known as Palma Christi) fill the center of plate. Some of the castor oil 'nuts' have a green core and some have a red core. There are also seven insects depicted on the plate including, a butterfly, bee, caterpillar, and beetle. The rim is painted with a line of red, iron-oxide.
Label TextDishes with this style of botanical decoration are often referred to as Hans Sloane style porcelain. Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) practiced medicine and had a passion for studying nature. In 1713 he purchased a riverside manor in Chelsea which included the Chelsea Physic Garden. Sloane encouraged medical students and the Society of Apothecaries to study, record, and experiment with local and foreign species of plants at the garden. Chelsea’s Hans Sloane style dishes are a result of the research conducted at the Chelsea Physic Garden.

This plate is decorated in the botanical style with leaves and fruit of the castor oil plant; at least one other plate with the same decoration survives. The scalloped rim is less common on botanical-decorated ware than the lobed edge found on the other examples in the collection.

MarkingsAnchor painted red within foot ring.
ProvenancePurchased From: Tilley & Co., London

Exhibition(s)