milk jug & 'Cauliflower' shape

Josiah Wedgwood, 1780 - 1836



milk jug & 'Cauliflower' shape

Josiah Wedgwood 1780 - 1836

Summary

Pear-shaped milk jug on straight footring, tapering to tall cylindrical neck with sparrow beak lip. Cream coloured body moulded in relief with cauliflower florets around neck and with two rows of six overlapping textured leaves, curled at the tips, around lower body. Lead glaze coloured green on leaves, handle and spout, reserving cream coloured cauliflower florets and interior. Restored plain strap loop handle painted green, with original green glazed spurred lower terminal remaining. Shallow domed cream coloured cover with button finial, moulded with cauliflower florets.

Display Label

Shape Shapes are often defined by their function: a teapot must have a handle and a spout. But by breaking away from the usual conventions designers and makers can reveal new possibilities, create new forms and make us think again. They can transform the teapot into a pineapple, or a simple, curvaceous, abstract shape. Through time, makers have used their imagination, their ingenuity and even their sense of humour to transform ordinary and everyday objects into appealing shapes inspired by our surroundings. Some shapes are designed to reflect their use, others are made as a novelty or decorative item: cows for a cream jug, giraffes for a mantelpiece. Many are created out of a desire to experiment, to see what can be done with different materials. This display brings together a menagerie of shapes showing the possibilities available to the maker.


Object Name

milk jug & 'Cauliflower' shape

Creators Name

Josiah Wedgwood

Date Created

1760-1770

Dimensions

across lip & handle: 12.7cm
without cover: 14.4cm
with cover: 17cm
: 10.1cm

accession number

1923.660

Place of creation

Etruria

Medium

Credit

Bequeathed by Thomas Tylston Greg

Legal

© Manchester Art Gallery


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