Pitcher with “Wisdom and Providence” Pattern

Kiev-Mezhegorsky faience works, Kiev, Russia. 1849

Coloured glaze on faience. Height: 16.3 cm, diameter of body: 9.4 cm

Impressed mark in the centre of the underside reads “Kiev, May 1849”, impressed marking “41”.

Acquired in 1936 from Artistic Technology Classroom 1 of Moscow State University.

This item was created as a copy of the “Wisdom and Providence” milk jugs made by a number of English factories such as Minton & Co., Samuel Alcock & Co. and Charles Meigh. The design was inspired by the decoration of the pendentives in the Common Council Chamber in London’s Guildhall. Created by Jean-François Rigaud, a French artist who had settled in England, these depicted allegorical emblems of Providence, Innocence, Wisdom and Happiness in the Italian baroque style. The work was commissioned and funded by Alderman John Boydell, a well-known publisher and patron of the arts. Created in 1794, by 1819 the emblems had, sadly, been practically destroyed by the exceptional damp of the building.
A guidebook to the Guildhall published that year states that “these Paintings never dried perfectly and turned black. They exist no longer.” In 1799 Boydell published prints of the paintings, having commissioned Benjamin Smith to create that of Providence and Innocence, Jean Pierre Simon to make the print of Wisdom, and Thomas Burke that of Happiness. These prints served as the source for relief decorations on chinaware.