Enamel (& Metal) Things: A Pair of Flowery Wall Plaques for the First Day of Spring (c. 1760s)

Private collection.

Object focus: A pair of enamelled wall plaques in gilt metal frames, depicting flowers in urns, transfer printed and over-painted, c. 1760s. Probably made in Birmingham or the Black Country.

Enamelling was conducted in Bilston and Wednesbury as well as Birmingham, so these plaques may have been name in any of these towns. They have been transfer printed, a process new to this period, and over-painted in vibrant enamel colours. Several butterflies flutter around the flowers.

The artisans making these decorative goods often took inspiration, or directly copied, from a range of books designed for engravers, enamellers, japanners, and other craftspeople; for ladies' needlework; as well as the general interest for the public. They were usually published in sets of six, such as the example below:

A Select Collection of the most beautiful Flowers, Drawn after Nature, after Heckel (1795, reprint from c. 1750-1770 prints).
Held at the V&A. One of a set of six.

See more prints, below:

Japanned Things: Well-Loved Regency Dogs, By Samuel Raven (c. 1820s)

Japanned snuffbox signed by Samuel Raven, c. 1820.
'Crib and Rosa'
Privately sold.

Object Focus: A selection of Regency boxes produced by Samuel Raven in Birmingham immortalising loyal and loving dogs. 

Japanned Things: Mrs. Honey Snuffbox by Samuel Raven (c. 1833)

Snuff box painted by Samuel Raven c. 1832-1843.
V&A Collection.

Object Focus: A japanned papier mâché snuffbox, made in Birmingham c. 1832-1843, depicting the actress Mrs. Honey. Boxes depicting actresses in dramatic roles were popular throughout the eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries. The box itself was probably produced by Henry Clay, then bought and painted by Samuel Raven (signed).

Enamel Menagerie Nᵒ.8: Swan Boxes

 

Enamel swan bonbonnière, c. 1760-1770.
Privately sold (English Enamel Company).

This swan bonbonnière (sweet box) adds another form to the range of animals produced in enamelled copper boxes in the later eighteenth century, made in the Birmingham, Bilston or Wednesbury areas. The swan is simply painted with festoons of grey dots forming the plumage on the body and more intricately painted wing feathers in three kinds. Other animals were made sitting on grassy mounds, such as frogs and tigers. The base of this swan box is below.

Base of swan bonbonnière, above.

Enamel Menagerie Nᵒ.7: Lions Boxes

Enamel lion bonbonnière, c. 1760-70.
Sold at Bonham's in 2011 for £2,750. Originally from
the Mort & Moira Lesser collection, and before that,
the Ionides Collection.

This beautifully painted lion's head was used as a bonbonnière (sweet box) in the late 1700s. It was made in Birmingham or Bilston, or possibly Wednesbury, and is a particularly fine example. Similar boxes for other big cats, such as tigers and leopards, were made but the copper base of the box is raised around the mane, suggesting that this box was designed from start to finish as a lion. The mane and fur are painted in delicate lines in multiple shades of yellow and brown and his whiskers and teeth are particularly endearing. 

The lid (see below) was painted with an image of Sampson grappling with a lion. The lid is hinged and mounted simply. 

Lid of lion bonbonnière (above).
6.2cm diameter.

Enamel Menagerie Nᵒ.6: Tiger Boxes

Enamel tiger bonbonnière, c. 1760 (5.8cm diameter).
Sold at Bonham's in 2011 for £4,500. Originally
from the Mort & Moira Lesser collection.

This cheeky, grinning tiger is beautifully painted with glowing teeth and slicked-back whiskers in vibrant magenta and white. He is one of several creatures included in the menagerie of eighteenth-century enamels made in Birmingham and Bilston in about the 1760s and 1770s. These were bonbonnières (sweet boxes), which were larger containers to the pill and patch boxes produced at a similar time.

The lid (below) is hinged and simply mounted onto the box, and decorated with a hunting scene, with a pyramid or obelisk behind the tiger, all framed in colourful scrolling. Many boxes depicting large cats included hunting scenes on the lid, perhaps influenced by well-known prints produced 150 years previously by Antonio Tempesta, an Italian painter and engraver (see lion boxes).

Lid of the tiger bonbonnière (above).

Enamel Menagerie Nᵒ.5: Pigeon Boxes

Enamel pigeons, c. 1760-70 (6.3cm high).
Sold at Bonham's in 2011. Originally from
the Mort & Moira Lesser collection.

These amorous pigeons provide another example of the variety of animal bonbonnières (sweet boxes) produced in enamel in eighteenth-century Birmingham and Bilston. The two pigeons have interlocking beaks, one painted purple, and the other brown, and may have been given as a token of love or affection. Doves are more usually the bird of love as doves pulled Venus's chariot so became associated with her, the goddess of love. The difference between pigeons and doves, though, is linguistic and aesthetic rather than scientific, and some doves look similar to certain pigeons.*

Venus, by Carlo Lasinio (after Raphael) c. 1780s.
Wellcome Collection.

The lid of the box (below) shows a bird perched on a bunch of grapes, with pears and other fruit nearby. The lid has a simple mount with a hinge opening.

Lid of the pair of pigeons, above.

Enamel Menagerie Nᵒ.4: Boar Boxes

Enamel wild boar, c. 1760-70.
Sold at Bonham's for £1.375 in 2011. Originally
from the Mort & Moira Lesser collection.

Important note: Some of these boxes include mild eighteenth-century erotica.

The boar head box (above and below) was probably made in Birmingham or Bilston in the 1760s. They were usually bonbonnières, which were boxes for keeping sweets, often used to sweeten the breath in eighteenth-century social encounters. Lots of boar boxes survive suggesting that they were popular, or perhaps they were preferred by later collectors. Many of the boxes include images of boar hunting on the lid and, compared to other animals produced as part of the eighteenth-century enamel menagerie, many contain mild erotica either hidden on a secret inner lid or in plain view. ~

The boar's face (above) is intricately painted with each hair visible, complete with tusks and pink snout. The lid (below) is painted with a boar in a woodland scene.

Lid of the above box, 7.5 cm wide.

Enamel Menagerie Nᵒ.3: Birds of Prey Boxes

Enamel hawk or falcon bonbonnière, c. 1765. 
Sold at Bonham's. Originally from the
Mort & Moira Lesser collection. (6.1cm long)

An either Birmingham or South Staffordshire made bonbonnière (sweet box) in the shape of a bird of prey from about 1760 to 1770, with intricately painted plumage, especially around the beak. The lid (below) is painted with a mother-hen protecting her chicks from a falcon or hawk flying overhead. The mount is of gilt metal.

Lid of above box.

Enamel Menagerie Nᵒ.2: Owl (and Unfortunate Frog) Boxes

Box 1: Snuff-box or bonbonnière, c. 1760. Sold at Bonhams. 
Originally from the Mort & Moira Lesser collection.

Previously I wrote about enamelled frog boxes, but here, I'm afraid, it is bad news for the unfortunate frog. He's owl supper!

Many of these animal-shaped boxes were made between about 1760 and 1780 in Birmingham or South Staffordshire, and depict all kinds of creatures, both exotic and more familiar. They were made using a shaped copper base which was then enamelled and mounted with a decorative rim. The copper shape of this owl must have been particularly difficult to form with his raised wing.

Base of owl bonbonnière, above. Transfer printed and overpainted.

Enamelled Things: Quadrille Pools (c. 1765)

Enamelled copper quadrille pool, c. 1765.
Carnegie Museum of Art.

These enamel quadrille pools (the bowls above and below) were made from enamelling a base of shaped and cut copper, and then painting the designs with enamel colours. They were very likely made in one of the Black Country enamel-making towns, such as Bilston or Wednesbury, or in Birmingham.

Birmingham Objects: Thomason's Famous Corkscrew (patented 1802)

Object Focus: Corkscrew probably made by Edward Thomason labelled with Charles Jones's mark to be sold in his Pantechnetheca.

The design of this corkscrew was by Edward Thomason was a silversmith with a large manufactory on Church Street, he patented his design for a new corkscrew in 1802 and it made him a small fortune. The innovation was that the device pulled the cork out as it screwed.