CHRISTOPHER DRESSER (1834-1904) FOR LINTHORPE ART POTTERY
FIJIAN LIBATION DISH, CIRCA 1880
glazed and unglazed earthenware, impressed factory marks and facsimile signature LINTHORPE / Chr Dresser / 293 / H
18cm long
Note: The unusual shape of this vessel is included among the advertisements for Linthorpe Pottery in the Furniture Gazette, 22 May, 1880. The dish is based on a Fijian yaqona dish, a priest’s ritual drinking vessel, and named after the narcotic drink used in the ritual. Dresser is likely to have been familiar with the yaqona dish in the form of a male figure acquired by the British Museum in 1842 (1842. 12-10.127).