BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Hmmm, due to the success we have had in finding new, caring homes for many of the Sterling and Silver Plate items that we have offered previously on behalf of extended family, they have now given us this wall hanging to once again see if we would like it ourselves or someone else may appreciate it more!
We made the latter choice!
Yes, we are very much into "The Arts" but this type of wall hanging is not really our thing so my wife does not want to have it hanging on the walls here.
Art is such a subjective thing, a bit like human relationships - you either love it, just like it, think it is "so-so" or absolutely detest this type of wall hanging!
I must say personally that I DO like the artist's decoration technique, there has even been use made of "paint scraping" for good effect around the flowers, but .... well we hang paintings and not plates on our walls, so this must go.
To be frank, I know (and the owners also do not know) very little about the background to this wall hanging ... it is NOT signed, NO makers marks at all other than the number 83 which has been impressed into the ceramic and then infilled with Black. We presume this 83 is a product code, this hints towards many of these were made at one time, for supply to a large user client base such as a Department Store or (as we strongly suspect) the 83 refers to this mould being offered as a blank to the art marketplace, the buyer to then add their own creations to the blank. Completely unknown who made this blank though and our research drew blanks.
My first thought when I saw this was "Oh dear, it's something from China" but I am not so sure because I have seen very similar items from Portugal for example. The artwork just doesn't look like a Chinese creation, the flowers are a bit on the surrealistic side, some hints of tropicana and even the base mould is quite different to others that I have seen.
This wall hanging dish needs to be thought of in these terms ...
A cheery chappy, which does add interest when hanging on the wall ... but the history behind it? No idea
Enough of the chit chat ... let me tell me as much as I can about this wall hanging dish
WALL HANGING DECORATED DISH
No idea where the mould was made or about the artist who decorated it
Circa 1970's ~ 1980's (based on the design, the condition and some information given to us by the owners such as when they obtained it)
Moulded ceramic dish with elaborate reticulation around the sides, not just your "standard" circles. Yes there are circles but also cut outs that look very similar to teardrops.
We both feel that it is likely that this ceramic dish was originally a blank mould and perhaps even made for the wider pottery industry, for the buyer to decorate as they chose. We might be wrong on this but it's just a feeling that this is a mass produced, commercially made moulding onto which the artist has created their masterpiece!
The mould measures 11 inches diameter and is very well made but other than the 83 on the underside, absolutely no other markings at all
The artwork is of course hand decorated, although I have not seen this technique on other pieces my wife has handed me. There are none of the dots which are produced by transfer or "dot painting" techniques but instead I can see very very faint lines throughout the artwork. The colours are solid but have these lines evenly spaced throughout the art. To see these lines I needed to look extremely closely at the artwork using a very high magnification system, with normal viewing using the naked eye you will not see anything. Just a mystery to me of just what technique was used here but it almost looks like some sort of transfer has been made from perhaps a piece of silk, the art being painted onto the silk and then laid down onto the ceramic blank - is this possible?. There has also been some "paint scraping" around the Blue & Crimson colour flowers, this shows as a White area in a circle around the flower centre.
All of this artwork is of course under glaze but the glazing is not perfect ... I guess a sign of being truly a folk art creation by a non-professional in the field. The glazing has tiny "pits" that can be seen when the dish is examined VERY closeup (under high magnification) but only in the central area, not around the edges. I am guessing the firing didn't quite go as planned.
Hanging weight: 750g (this tells you waht sort of hanging arrangement you should have)
The rear of the dish does have two preformed hanging holes so you can either hang the dish on a single wire or use something like a Jute string to hang from one hole only.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Not much to say about this dish, it has been on another person's wall for a long long time in a controlled environment which means that the dish is practically like the day it left the kiln
CLEAN
High lustre clear glazing has NO crazing evident (wet or dry) but does have those tiny "pits" in the central area that I mention above.
NO damage to any of the artwork that has been applied
NO discolouration to the artwork, very vibrant colours indeed
NO chips
NO cracks
Now that the photographs are done with, I have placed this wall hanging dish within a completely sealed, clear plastic packaging (to protect it from dust & dirt) while it awaits a new owner who will appreciate it's ability to enhance the owners mood (it is a very cheerful looking dish to behold!)
