Art Institute of Chicago

Plaque

John Bennett (American, born England, 1840–1907)

Date

1879

Medium

Earthenware, glaze, slip, and enamel

Culture

New York City

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

English ceramist John Bennett created the distinct style of this floral plaque by painting the design in tinted slip, or liquid clay and then finishing it with a clear glaze. Bennett first developed this technique while working at the London pottery firm Doulton and Company, but after exhibiting “Bennett ware” to great acclaim at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, the artist to relocated to New York. This plaque, produced shortly after he arrived in the United States, reveals his ongoing indebtedness to British Aesthetic Movement design, which looked to nature and often involved dense, all-over floral and foliage motifs.

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