AN ISLAMIC-STYLE VICTORIAN ELECTROPLATED LARGE FOOTED BOWL
England, late 19th century

A tinned copper electroplated high-footed bowl, decorated in the 15th century style with bold calligraphy within cartouches amidst rosettes, arabesques and floral sprays. British mark of Queen Victoria and the Order of the Garter at the base.

During the late 19th century, the Victoria and Albert Museum (then known as the South Kensington Museum) commissioned numerous electrotype reproductions of historic and decorative art objects for didactic purposes, to support art education and the study of design through objects otherwise inaccessible to students and the public. These reproductions were frequently produced by Elkington & Co. of Birmingham under licence and stamped with institutional marks, including devices incorporating the Order of the Garter, such as this example, identifying them as authorised museum reproductions. Other reproductions made by the firm without the authority of the Department bore the firm’s own mark, consisting of a horizontal diamond enclosing 'Elkington & Co.' beneath a crown.

20.5cm x 30.5cm bowl diameter, foot diameter 15cm

For further references on the subject see: Illustrated Catalogue of Electrotype Reproductions of Works of Art, South Kensington Museum, from Originals in the South Kensington Museum, London, 1873 (no. 311-54, p. 37); Bury, S., Victorian Electroplate. London: Hamlyn, 1971.