Five Designs for Decorated Plates
![Five Designs for Decorated Plates by Samuel Alcock & Company|Alfred Henry Forrester [Alfred Crowquill]](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/dp/thumb/five-designs-for-decorated-plates-394825.webp)
Medium
Pen and ink, watercolor
Dimensions
sheet: 16 3/4 x 11 7/16 in. (42.5 x 29 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1956
Accession Number
56.527(25)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the mid-19th century, during the height of Victorian decorative arts, Alcock & Company, a prominent British pottery manufacturer, produced elegant earthenware for middle-class homes. This sheet of *Five Designs for Decorated* (1845–55), to illustrator Alfred Henry Forrester (known as Alfred Crowquill showcases intricate patterns destined for transfer-printed ceramics. Crowquill, celebrated for his whimsical caricatures and book illustrations, brought a lively touch to functional design, blending utility with ornamentation. Rendered in pen and ink with watercolor on a modest 16 3/4 x 11 7/1...
About the Artist
Samuel Alcock & Company|Alfred Henry Forrester [Alfred Crowquill] (British|British) · 1828 |1804 –1859 |1872
British, active ca. 1828–59|British, London 1804–1872 London