Brown Westhead, Moore & Co.'s "Pomona" pattern features boughs of fruit: apples, plums...
Brown Westhead, Moore & Co.'s "Pomona" pattern features boughs of fruit: apples, plums, grapes and berries, presented in a naturalistic way--just the way they grow.
Here, a cluster of grapes, executed in slate blue transfer, is presented as it would be seen hanging from the arbor in a tangle of leaves and tendrils, with even a snail making its way along a leaf.
Plant based decoration that earlier would have been confined to tightly arranged nosegays and garlands, was set free by designers in the late nineteenth century who created naturalistic, often asymmetrical, sprays of fruit, foliage or flowers. This was a lesson learned from the Japanese--one of the more subtle manifestations of the Japan mania that swept over Britain and the continent. A heightened attention to fine printing effects--here conveying the sense of dimension and weight in the fruit and leaves--also contrasts the simpler copper plate engraving of earlier transfer wares.
Seekers currently offers four "Pomona" plates in this size, each with a different fruit study.