Hello
I would be grateful for any thoughts on what appears to be this William Morris inspired Chinese planter which Ive recently purchased. The photo that has the best view of it I'm afraid Ive had success in sufficiently reducing in size :) - so its a photo of a photo.
I was wandering if this kind of 'cross' pollination is quite common?
Copying or imitating other decorations and designs was always part of the profession making these.
What I see here looks like a 20th century item, Chinese design, but the black outlines of the decoration details seem to have been printed (transfer printed). That was common during that period; the outlines or contours were then filled/painted by hand with colors. The whiteness of the top rim etc. also indicates that it would be 20th century. Older Chinese white glazes had actually a more off-white color, simply because in those times pure white colors were difficult to obtain from mineral materials used for the ceramics. The reddish color of the unglazed bottom is likely caused by iron content in the clay.
Thank you for the feedback Peter, I really appreciate it. I think the Morris/Chinese combo to be rather beautiful, and that it why I snapped it up (that - and also another similar piece is going about 10 times the amount I paid for this, that is why I wandered is the Morris/Chinese combo is rare or not - even if fairly modern).
Seems like William Morris was equally inspired by the Chinese, and incorporated some of that into his own designs.