Terms and conditions of use
Vase (Lactolian ware)
(c. 1900)
Medium
porcelain
Measurements
29.0 × 10.0 cm diameter
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
The Dr Robert Wilson Collection. Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Dr Robert Wilson, Governor, 1998
Gallery location
Mid 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
This is a rare example of decoration in a mature Art Nouveau style executed by a British ceramic factory. Doulton & Co.’s ‘lactolian ware’ employed a type of pâte-sur-pâte (paste-on-paste) decoration, in which ornament was built up upon the surface of a vase with thin layers of liquid porcelain paste. It was a very time-consuming process and very little lactolian ware was ever produced. Lactolian wares were featured by Doulton & Co. at the Paris 1900 International Exhibition, and it is probable that this vase by Robert Allen was produced for the Paris exhibition.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Burslem, Staffordshire, England
Inscription
printed in green on base c.: (crown) / DOULTON / · (four interlocking Ds) · / BURSLEM (in a scalloped circle) / ENGLAND
painted in gold on base c.: RA 3411 (.. under 11)
impressed (inverted) in base l.c.: 743
Accession Number
1998.138
Department
International Decorative Arts
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Physical description
The near cylindrical vase is decorated in on a cream ground with gold and with coloured slips (green, peach and blue) in low relief, with sinuous Art Nouveau ornament incorporating irises, the mouth and base with a gold border, a dot border in raised paste inside the mouth.