ENGLISH BLACK BASALT 'ENCAUSTIC-DECORATED' TWO-HANDLED KRATER VASE

ENGLISH BLACK BASALT 'ENCAUSTIC-DECORATED' TWO-HANDLED KRATER VASE circa 1770-1775, iron-red painter's mark and faint 187, attributed to Wedgwood & Bentley, after the Antique calyx-krater form, enameled in iron-red, black and white with classical Bacchanalian male and female figures, above key pattern, the reverse with a large palmette, scrolling foliage and floral sprays, on an integral circular foot, h: 10 x dia: 11 in.

Provenance: Lindsay Grigsby 18th Century Decorative Arts, Richmond, VA, 1 June 2004 (label and invoice).
Jeffrey Milkins Collection, no. 415.

Catalogue Note:
Inspired by vases from Antiquity, Wedgwood's decorative 'encaustic' technique was patented in 1769. For a closely related design of this subject, see Vol. I, pl. 48 of Sir William Hamilton's collection of Greek and Italian vases, compiled by Hamilton and Pierre d'Hancarville and published in 1766-1767. For a Wedgwood & Bentley, marked, 'encaustic-decorated' vase and cover with the same Bacchanalian scene, see The Spak Collection, no. 355 at the Law Library Special Collections, Florida International University (FIU).