EARLY 19TH CENTURY

The form of this krater vase is almost certainly inspired by an impressive blue john vase, twenty-four inches high including the plinth, made in 1815 by James Shore of Matlock Bath, Derbyshire, that he claimed was the largest ever made (although the latter has additional Blue John handles); now in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire (T.D. Ford, Derbyshire Blue John, Ashbourne, 2000, p. 86. In turn, this form is derived from ancient Greek pottery – a krater being a large vessel intended for wine. The Regency architect-designer, Thomas Hope, included designs for such vases to be made in bronze and gilt metal in his Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, published in 1807. The application of a painted porcelain plaque on the base, possibly depicting a muse crowning Apollo with a laurel wreath, was undoubtedly an acknowledgement to Wedgwood and the continuing fashion from the late 18th century for jasperware. Such plaques or medallions are found on a Blue John turret clock with Wedgwood medallion, formerly at Hopton Hall, Derbyshire (present whereabouts not known – see Ford, ibid., p. 66).