Sketch of a Chalice
![Sketch of a Chalice by Alfred Henry Forrester [Alfred Crowquill]|Samuel Alcock & Company](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.artheonmuseum.org%2Fmet%2Fdp%2Fthumb%2Fsketch-of-a-chalice-394867.webp&w=3840&q=75)
Medium
Graphite
Dimensions
sheet: 12 11/16 x 10 1/16 in. (32.3 x 25.5 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(67c)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the mid-19th century, the height of Britain's industrial pottery boom, Alfred Henry—better known by his whimsical pseudonym Alfred Crowquill— this precise graphite sketch of a chalice around 1845–55. A versatile illustrator, caricaturist, and designer, Forrester collaborated with Samuel Alcock & Company, prominent Staffordshire ceramics firm renowned for ornate earthenware and stoneware. This drawing, measuring 12 11/16 x 10 1/16 inches, served as a preparatory design likely intended for production, capturing the Victorian fascination with elaborate ecclesiastical and ornamental objects. R...
About the Artist
Alfred Henry Forrester [Alfred Crowquill]|Samuel Alcock & Company · 1804–1872
Alfred Henry Forrester, widely known by his pseudonym Alfred Crowquill, was a versatile British illustrator, author, and caricaturist whose whimsical creations captured the Victorian imagination. Born on 10 September 1804 in London to public notary Robert Forrester, he shared a prolific collaboration with his elder brother, Charles Robert Forrester (1803–1850), who wrote under the name Hal Willis....