French Basalt Stone Mushroom Trio, 1950s
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item
When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.
- 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.
- Basalt - Basalt is a hard, dense volcanic rock formed from the rapid cooling of basaltic lava, and makes up most of the earth's oceanic crust.
However it is also the name given by Josiah Wedgwood in 1768 to a fine black unglazed porcelain which he called Wedgwood Black Basalt.
Using this fine-grained stoneware he was able to produce copies of the newly excavated Etruscan pottery from Italy, with a lustrous and smooth, surface, and this new innovation proved to be a huge commercial success.
Visually similar items
Four Melanesian objects, including Trobriand island finger drum, Solomon islands food vessel and two stone pounders. The drum, 27.5 cm high
Yasuhisa Kohyama, (b. 1936), vase six panelled stoneware vase, woodfired with coarse naturally textured surface. Height 26 cm. Provenance: Freeland gallery, Estate of Prof. Alan Walker
Two whale's teeth, 18/19th century. 10 cm and 14 cm
Wendy Masters, 'Houses on the Hill' pair of stoneware sculptures. Provenance: Jag Applied Art Collection