Antique China grape designs on jug or pitcher - hand signed E. Sutherland 1898

by Robert R Jodoin
(Hooksett, NH USA)

Antique China grape designs on jug or pitcher - hand signed E. Sutherland 1898:- Retired school teacher gave this to me. can you tell me anything about it??

Robert R

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Antique China grape designs on jug or pitcher - hand signed E. Sutherland 1898

Hi Robert

As far as I know E. Sutherland is not a well recognised name in the annals of china painting - although the painting does look very fine and professional rather than amateur (I am presuming this is hand painting rather than transfer print).

What this is, in my opinion, is a very fine example of the Victorian penchant for using decorative ceramics (a plate, a vase, a pitcher etc) as a 'canvas' to practice their painting on.

At that time this hobby became a very fashionable craze for the emerging middle classes and many thousands of people practised it. Some obviously became quite good at it like one E. Sutherland.

Remember, they had no TV's, no Wii's, no computer console games, no Frisbees, no surfboards, no Zumba, no smart phone apps, no cappuccino machines.

The hobby was a reflection of the Vienna style of ceramics where this precious and recently discovered white gold of porcelain was a treasured canvas and some of the greatest painters of the period practised their art there upon.

I suppose we find this whole hobby and porcelain-as-a-treasure thing it hard to fathom in this day and age where many of us (the majority in this recession) have very busy lives trying to make a dollar so we don't have our houses repossessed and we can no longer see any pressing appeal in posh porcelain tableware or decorative items (let alone painting the items ourselves).

I think only if you have your lives fairly up together can you afford yourself the luxury of porcelain appreciation. At least, this is what I can gather from my meetings with collectors of my own work - they all seem very 'together' people who are relaxed and enjoying life.

Peter (admin)

p.s. The following page is a 'must see' if you are researching fine china - for value and identification:-

Researching the identity and value of antique and vintage fine china.