Chelsea-Derby vase, of elegant footed urn shape, with long strap handles to the sides moulded with crescents and terminating at the shoulder, the whole richly gilt with a striped ground, a large oval reserve to either side containing A: a wooded landscape attributed to Zachariah Boreman, with a fisherman casting a line on a lake shore while a lady strolls by, a castle to the background; and B: a standing female figure in classical robes, attributed to Richard Askew, holding a large wood club and a raised blazing torch, on a pale lemon ground, titled to the lower edge VIRTUE.
Inscribed to the base No. 52,
Gold anchor to the plinth, circa 1775
#1014068
26cm high
SOLD
minor restoration to handles & knop
The two hands at work on this vase, Richard Askew and Zachariah Boreman, are often seen in conjunction on these most imposing products of the Derby factory, and we can assume it was a matter of using the best artists of the time on the most flamboyant pieces.
Askew was a Londoner, who came to Chelsea in the late 1750âs and was there for the transition to Derby, 1770-84. This vase bears the transitional mark, with both the Gold Anchor of Chelsea, and the D for Derby. Twitchett states this mark is used on pieces decorated at Chelsea rather than Derby, where a different Derby mark was used.
Boreman was also a Chelsea artist, specializing in landscapes, and also stayed at the Chelsea works to the end. After this he spends ten years at Derby, but returns to London and is said to have painted for one of the decorating studios there.
See Twitchet âDerbyâ p46 for a very similar pair of vases.
