Two Stevens Williams Jack In The Pulpit Vases c1885

Description

Heading : PTwo  of “Jack In The Pulpit” vases
Date : c1885
Period : Victoria
Origin : Brierley Hill. Stourbridge. England
Colour : Opaline and citron
Body : Large opaline bowls with vaseline stems on flute moulded and moulded petal feet
Glass Type : Lead
Size : The largest is 25.5cm tall with a 13.7cm bowl
Condition : Excellent. no chips or cracks
Restoration : None
Weight : 451 grams combined

The term “Jack in the pulpit” was first used by Louis Tiffany to describe this form. The plant from which it takes its name is an American native. In Britain plants of the arum genus such as “Lords and ladies” . “cuckoo pint” and “bog arum” are all widely known.  Stevens and Williams first used this distinctive shape as early as 1850 a full quarter of a century before the first American examples and thus. by rights. they should not be described as “jack in the pulpit” at all.

The spathe on these examples has two points. on all American forms it has a single point as both emulate the native species. Stevens and Williams under the artistic guidance of Northwood and later Carder used a vast palette of colours from the 1870s to the turn of the century.