THE PRINT COLLECTOR

A Royal Worcester porcelain plaque by William Hawkins, 1912, painted after Meissonier's 'The Print Collector' and enclosed by cobalt and tooled gilt borders, signed W.A. Hawkins lower left of image, puce backstamp verso, oval 28 x 17cm, frame 46 x 37cm

1. 'The Print Collector' Royal Worcester porcelain plate, 1912, designed by William Hawkins after the original oil painting by J. E. Meisesnier. Unframed oval 28 cm x 17 cm, frame 46 cm x 37 cm. Private collection, photograph Gibson's Auctions Armadale Australia 2023.

2. The Print Collector, c1850, (Der Drucksammler) by Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier. Credit: The Wallace Collection, London.

The back of the oval porcelain plaque has a label with its title and place of original purchase, 'Royal Worcester Factory for £25 in 1917'.

This is an example of where high-art and Royal Worcester ceramics come together. The original painting by Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier is in the Wallace Collection, London.

This is one in a small series of porcelain plaques by Hawkins that portray copies of well-known earlier oil paintings. Another example, from 1930, copy’s the famous ‘Blue Boy' painting by Thomas Gainsborough and is one of his final works.

William Hawkins started working at the Royal Worcester factory when he was 16 years-old and continued to work there until two years before he died in 1930. These years, spanning over half a century (1874 – 1928) saw many changes both in the company and in the British way of life. His painting topics reflected the many styles and preferences of the era.

Credit: The Wallace Museum, Gibson's Auctions, and the Museum of Royal Worcester.

3. Detail of ' The Print Collector' Royal Worcester porcelain plate by Andrew Hawkins. Credit: Gibson's Auctions photograph.

4. 'Blue Boy' Royal Worcester porcelain plaque, 1930, designed by William Hawkins after the Thomas Gainsborough oil portrait of 1770. Unframed oval 22.5 cm x 14.5 cm. Credit: Private collection, photograph Carter's.

Ceramic Collectors Society PO Box 1, Darlinghurst, NSW 1300 ceramiccollectorssociety@gmail.com