Delftware in the Collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum
by Michael Archer
This complete catalogue of the English and Irish
delftware in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, reveals much that is beautiful
and unusual. The greater part of the collection was bequeathed by Dr J.W.L.
Glaisher in 1928, and much of it is little known. A detailed publication has
long been overdue, and this book
illustrates 588 items in colour, many with multiple views. The strength
of Dr Glaisher’s collection is the English earthenware of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, particularly delftware: no better assemblage has ever
been made by a single collector. He amassed objects with great academic rigour
over a period of more than thirty years, concentrating particularly on dated pieces
while always exercising a discriminating and aesthetical eye.
Michael Archer’s catalogue provides details of date
and place of manufacture, size, body, glaze, decoration and provenance with a
full discussion where appropriate. Julia Poole has contributed a fascinating
chapter with much new material on Dr Glaisher’s life and the extraordinary
breadth of his collecting interests. There is also a general introduction to
delftware, including a description of the manufacturing process; further sections
give indexes and exhaustive information on all the works.
This book is an essential addition to the library of all
scholars, collectors, auction rooms and dealers in the field and invaluable to
those members of the public with an interest in the history of English pottery
generally and delftware in particular.
 |
| Preview page from 'Delftware in the Collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum' |
Michael
Archer OBE, MA, FSA is a former Keeper of the Ceramics Department
of the Victoria and Albert Museum where he became the acknowledged expert on
English delftware. He has written numerous articles and books on ceramics,
culminating in Delftware,
the Tin-Glazed Earthenware of the British Isles, a
catalogue of the collections in the Victoria and Albert Museum, published in
1997.
