Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Home Beautiful: the Newhaven Fishers Comports, c. 1870



Molded Glass Compote
John Ford, c. 1870
This and all related images from:
The Victoria and Albert Museum



This pair of glass comports (compotes) feature dishes which are supported by molded male and female figures which appear to be based on photographs of the famed Newhaven fisher folk from the area near Edinburgh, Scotland. Photographers Hill and Adamson published a series of photos of the Newhaven fishers in the 1870s which garnered much public attention.

The glasswork is the work of one John Ford who molded the figures. The pair once belonged to Barbara Morris who had long worked in the V&A's Circulation Department. The V&A describes Morris as, “a pioneer in the study of Victorian and Edwardian Decorative Arts” and as an avid collector of glass and ceramics of the period. 
















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