Large Arts and Crafts charger painted in 1877 by Catherine Sparkes, possibly for Doulton

Size:  52.5 cm diameter (21 inches).

Condition: Very good condition, no chips, cracks or restoration.

This superb charger was painted in 1877 by Catherine Adelaide Sparkes (1842-1891), who has put her monogram and the date on the front and also signed the back with the title "The Cowslip Ball."

Catherine Sparkes (Née Edwards) was a painter and book illustrator and also a central figure in the development of faience by Doulton.  She studied at the Lambeth and Royal Academy Schools and exhibited at the R.A. from 1866 to 1890 as well as with the New Society of Painters in Watercolours and the Grosvenor and Dudley Galleries.  As a ceramic painter, she did freelance work, including a large faience panel exhibited by Doulton at the International Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876.  In 1868 she married John Sparkes, who initiated innovative policies, including an association with Doulton, at the Lambeth School of Art where he was Superintendent of Studies. By the time this charger was painted he was the headmaster of the National Art Training School, later to become the Royal College of Art. 

The circumstances of this piece are a bit of a mystery.  It is probably earthenware with an off white clay body, which is simply transparent glazed on the back but also shines through at the front in places. The piece is very heavy and seems to be quite high fired, with some of the colours having an underglaze effect (glossy) and others having fused with the glaze to give a matte effect.  The faces of the two children are quite dark but this may be intentional to reflect the fact that they are rustic and suntanned.  There are no impressed marks on the plaque, and if it was painted for Doulton the blank may have been bought in from elsewhere, as it is larger and a different shape from typical Doulton chargers.  The Arts and Crafts style border is also not a typical Doulton feature.  It may be that the charger was a special piece done for the Howell & James annual Decorative Arts exhibition, to which Sparkes is known to have contributed.

Cowslip balls were made by hanging the flower heads from a string and tying the ends. Children would toss them to each other, reciting, as the ball gradually fell to bits: Tissty-tossty, tell me true, Who am I going to be married to?  Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggarman, thief.  In the scene here, a young boy holds a basket of Cowslip seed heads and observes his elder sister making them into bolls on a string tied to the branch of a bush.  The painting in terms of composition and technique is of very high quality, as one would expect.

The charger has manufactured hanging holes for wall hanging.