A Rare Wedgwood fairyland lustre 'Ghostly Wood' malfrey pot and…
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A Rare Wedgwood fairyland lustre 'Ghostly Wood' malfrey pot and cover, designed by Daisy Makeig-Jones, circa 1920, the vase is inspired by the The Legends of Croquemitaine by Gustave Dore and other tales. The cover is painted with the Owls of Wisdom, Roc bird and the scorpion within a gilt border overlookng the scene below. The body decorated with fairyland scenes and includes the Demon Tree, Roc Bird, Bat in Demon Tree, Black Toad and Dwarf, Red Monkeys and the Scorpion with a long yellow tail and spines. The vase also shows White Rabbit scampering to guide the immortal Alice to Wonderland. Marked with incised shape no. 2312, printed gilt Wedgwood Portland Vase mark, painted pattern no. Z4968, 33.6 cm high. Provenance: Beard Watson & Co. Ltd, Sydney (part label attached), Private Collection, acquired from the above in the 1920s, Private Collection, Sydney, by descent from the above, Literature, Una Des Fontaines, Lionel Lambourne, Anne Eatwell, Miss Jones and her Fairyland, Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre, V & A publications, London, 1997, cover (illustrated, another example), Some Glimpses of Fairyland Depicted by M. Makeig-Jones, Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd, England, 1921, p. 13 (illustrated, another example) (accompanies this lot) . Compare with a related example in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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  • Incised - A record of a name, date or inscription, or a decoration scratched into a surface, usually of a glass or ceramic item with a blunt instrument to make a coarse indentation. Compare with engraving where the surface is cut with a sharp instrument such as a metal needle or rotating tool to achieve a fine indentation.
  • Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
  • Lustre Ware - Lustre decoration on ceramics is created by painting a thin deposit of metal oxide such as gold, silver or copper onto the surface, and then firing the item again, so that metal oxide forms a thin film on the surface. The finished effect is a shiny metallic surface. The technique was used in the 19th century by potteries such as Crown Devon, Grimwades, Maling, and Royal Doulton. However the best known use was by Wedgwood for its Fairyland lustre.

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