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WALPOLES

Tel: +44 (0)207 7275263

Email: [email protected]

https://www.decorativecollective.com/dealers/walpoles

Item Details

A fine pair of Regency period papier mâché bottle or decanter coasters, decorated around with a design of Chinese style fencing, the design often encountered in blind frets on mahogany furniture of the Georgian period, with a gazebo, palm trees and a serpent wrapped around a club. Probably made by Henry Clay at his London Factory around 1820.


dia: 5 1/8 ins x 1 3/4 ins


The symbol of the serpent and club may refer to the eleventh labour of Hercules, or the Rod of Asclepius, the symbol of medicine and healing. Whichever, it is a curious adjunct to these highly decorative 'Chinoiserie' Coasters.


Papier mâché in England began in 1772 when Henry Clay applied for a patent for heat resistant panels of laminated paper; initially known as Paper Ware. This was a further development of the French papier mâché which they had been making since the seventeenth century. Clay’s trade card announced that he was 'Japanner in ordinary to his Majesty and to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales'. In 1816, having sold his Birmingham manufactory to Jennens & Bettridge, Clay moved to London where he continued to produce his fine papier mâché until 1860.


 

  • Period:
    • Price: £550.00
    • €633 Euro
    • $747 US Dollar
  • Location: London