Octagonal plate with the arms of the Machell and Holloway family
ca. 1750 - ca. 1774
Medium
turning
Dimensions
13.3; 2.3; 22.7
About this artwork
Achtkantig bord beschilderd in emails en goud met in het centrum het gecombineerde wapen van de families Machell en Holloway. Op de wand en rand een spearhead band en op de rand vogels en bloemtakken.
Art Historical Context
This exquisite octagonal plate, crafted around 1750–1774 by an anonymous artisan, exemplifies 18th-century European ceramics at its finest. Measuring just 2.3 cm in height and 22.7 cm in, its shallow, lathe-turned form—achieved through the precise "turning" technique a potter's wheel—highlights the technical mastery of the period. At its center gleams the combined coat of arms of the prominent English families Machell and Holloway, likely commemorating a marriage alliance or family union, a common practice among the aristocracy. The plate's surface bursts with vibrant enamels and gold, a luxu...
About the Artist
anonymous
In the vast tapestry of art history, "Anonymous" stands not as a singular individual but as a collective designation for countless unidentified creators whose works have endured across millennia. These artists, spanning prehistoric cave painters to medieval illuminators and folk craftsmen, produced the foundational layers of human visual culture. Prior to the Renaissance, when individual fame emer...