Featured Can anybody shed any light on these Victorian majolica planters?

Hi all,
Does anybody know anything about these antique planters? What I know (or think) is that they are Victorian circa 1870, majolica ware, unsigned in cabbage leaf design.
What is the likely origin? Are they of good quality? Or anything else you can add, maybe how they were produced etc?
Many thanks in advance.
Paul

 

Insides worry me, they're not well done. The whole ought to be glazed, typically a good blue. And the feet look newer too. Might be Portuguese.

 

Thanks, maybe a little harsh as the outside at least is very nice.
They are consistent with what was sold on this site below:
http://madelena.com/media3/majolica17199.html
It doesn't give a great deal of info on likely origin, but the insides are just the same and they seem to deal in decent quality stuff.

 

Not much help, but has made a Pinterest appearance:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/372180356687468024/

The way a lot of blue has been used with the green to do the leaves reminds me of a difference I have noted between English & American majolica in the form of an ear of corn. US greens are more yellow, or more carefully painted pieces may have the husk beginning to brown at the edges. The Brits go for a bluer hue:



Some photos of American Brush-McCoy were posted as part of this thread:

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/victorian-majolica-in-general.21671/#post-292300

 

I agree with Owned, I do not think these are Victorian.
Whether Portuguese or Italian, I can't tell you.

 

Definitely a bluish hue to it. The few places I've found it on all say more or less the same, c1860-1870 so it's interesting you don't think so. It doesn't look particulary modern to my eye, maybe the photos are a bit misleading.

What sort of age would you think then? Also as I'm UK based and I've only seen anything about them on UK sites it may point to UK origin?

 

Also found this:
http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eB...3&pm=1&ds=0&t=1462557649000&ver=0&cspheader=1

 

Oh, I agree the outsides are very good. I'm still not sure it's of that age, but have a look at George Skey of Wilncote.

 

Could be a good call, they certainly chucked a fair amount of stuff out by the looks of it and the age and location certainly suit. A lot seems to have been marked though and these aren't, but not all of it was.

 

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/8617366_54-majolica-planter-by-george-skey-wilnecote-works

The green/blue hue on this looks quite similar

 

This won't really help I'm sure but I did look through the book I have on Majolica without seeing this.

I'm not a collector of majolica but of older ceramics in a general way. These are very attractive but as others mentioned, I'm bothered by the drippy interior glaze. It resembles many fairly modern pieces of glazed pottery I've seen. Even more I'm bothered by the base of the feet. They resemble some dark washed more modern pieces.

The other thing I've found is that modern pottery made in the older majolica style sometimes has funny weight. Sometimes too heavy, sometimes too light but off somehow. That's impossible to guess from a photo.

It's difficult to judge too much from photos but I'd be reluctant to say these are 19th C based on my non-expert eye. If you're familiar with 19th C majolica perhaps you can be the better judge on whether there is the type of wear etc. that you might expect.

No matter the age they are very decorative.

 

I'm no expert for sure, you could be right. Going back to George Skey, who produced 1860-1930 by the looks of it and pumped out on mass, rather than quality pieces, I'm literally within 40 miles of that area and these were purchased locally. Also, have seen in Christie's a pair of lion on bases by Skey, these were a copy of much earlier pieces (by about a century) - I found an article that actually cited the Skey copies Vs what they imitated.

But it says to me, the factory made copies of more valuable traditional pieces at a later date. So in the style of. These could be something along those lines. Depends what you call modern I guess.

I haven't weighed them but they are fairly heavy, very sturdy, pieces. Visually they are of some age, but how old I couldn't tell you, so I've gone on what others have said previously.

I'd probably have to take them to a expert in person I think.

I paid £50 for the pair, I think that isn't too bad even if they are modern than I expected. I can always put them to good use.

 

http://www.mystaffordshirefigures.com/blog/george-skey-lions
The blog on the lions.

 

I've a couple of Skey planters - period ones. I like them. Not well made, particularly, but huge charm.

Fifty squid is good even if they turn out not to be period, you'd pay more retail.

 

Very nice, are yours marked?

 

I find it intriguing that if they are modern that more examples can not be found searching about, and as I am sure you have, I have been digging deep trying to find anything besides the pair you found and the Pinterest picture with no luck. Please update this post if you have them examined.

 

I'll be sure to, and I agree there isn't much like it around. It's the most visually appealing cabbage ware I've ever seen, and the colours are some thing to behold in real life. Maybe they intended it to be filled with mud so didn't bother with the internals. Lol.

 

Nope, not marked, but a very common known design of theirs. They're very well used and battered, but I like them.

BY the way, those planters would not have been filled with soil: they would have had something like a plain terracotta pot inside.