£6,875
Auction: Design Since 1860
glazed earthenware, inscribed verso DR/ 54/ AEA/ 1897, later framed
Literature: Jeremy Cooper Ltd., The Birkenhead Della Robbia Pottery 1893-1906, 1980, front cover illustration
Hyland, P., The Della Robbia Pottery Birkenhead 1894-1906, ACC, 2014, p.209, pl.225
Note: A prominent sculptor and artist based in London, Ellen Mary Rope never worked at the Della Robbia Pottery, however she did supply a significant number of designs from 1897 until the factory’s closure in 1906. After studying at the Slade, she quickly gained a solid reputation and received a number of important commissions, including one to produce four panels for the Woman’s Building at the 1893 Chicago Exhibition. At the same time, Rope also wanted her work to be more accessible to a wider market; her charming designs and traditional working methods, very much in keeping with Arts & Crafts ideology, appealed to Harold Rathbone, who was in need of a talented designer and sculptor to replace Carlo Manzoni and Conrad Dressler.
Her designs for the pottery were an instant success, and featured heavily in the 1896 catalogue, as well as in exhibitions at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. One of Rope’s most popular designs is arguably the present lot, which she titled ‘Mother and Child’. The figures, modelled with simplicity, have a certain classical aura about them and their delicate treatment offers a graceful and tender interpretation of the relationship between them. Often seen on large square bas-relief panels, as in the present lot, this particular design was also reproduced by the pottery as small medallions by Marion de Clawé.