Grotesques

dragonvase-02

Ovoid mustard-glazed vase with pierced rim and four handles modelled as dragons or sea serpents in the grotesque style. 

Mark: Impressed SALOPIAN mark.
Height: 210mm / 8.25in

Images: © James Miles Ltd., Stourbridge, November 2016

Compare with Clément Massier vase below, c.1900.


  • Three idiosyncratic examples of Salopian Art Pottery modelled byJames Arthur “Arty” Hartshorne (1873–1936) exist – a goblin, a gorilla and a smoker. They fall into a group of art pottery broadly referred to as “grotesques”.

  • The pieces are moulded and exist in three distinct colourways – blue, green and amber.

  • They have a hand-incised Salopian script mark with the initials JAH for James Arthur Hartshorne

  • The pieces can be dated to c.1900–1910, as evidenced by a gorilla jar adapted into a money box which bears an inscription to the base: "Elizabeth Lilian Taylor Born Jan 19th 1908” (Edmundson 2002, p47).

  • The goblin vase bears a similarity to the grotesques modelled c.1900 by Blanche Vulliamy (1869–1923), who created goblin figures with wrinked features, wild eyes and open mouths for the Aller Vale Pottery, Torquay.

  • In addition to the grotesques modelled by James Arthur Hartshorne, a fourth example can be included in this category of ware – a vase with handles modelled as dragons or sea serpents (see panel, right). This is an exact copy of a vase designed by French ceramicist Clément Massier (1844-1917). 


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