De Morgan pottery dish decorated by Charles Passenger; saucer shaped; painted in ruby and gold lustre and pink on a white ground, with a design of a lioness surrounded by scrolled formalised leafy stems; the underside painted with alternating circular bands of ruby and gold on a white ground
William De Morgan, a lifelong friend of Arts and Crafts pioneer William Morris, was one of the most innovative ceramic designers of his day. Much of his work was inspired by Islamic pottery, especially the rich colours and patterns of wares from medieval Iran, Syria and Turkey.
De Morgan is probably best-known for reviving the ancient Middle Eastern technique of reduction-fired lustre glazing. This involves creating a metallic surface on pottery that shines like gold or copper. These wares were highly-prized, and by the sixteenth century the technique was also used in Spain and Italy.
However, achieving the metallic effect is very difficult, so lustres fell out of fashion. De Morgan studied and revived the glaze, even achieving different colours of lustre on the same vessel, which no-one had ever done before.
De Morgan's designs were also influenced by medieval European patterns. This dish depicts a splendid heraldic beast in copper and gold lustre.
