Tim,
Classical and neo-classical motifs were a common part of didactic Victorian exhibitions; according to the Crystal Palace Foundation, the rebuilt Palace at Sydenham itself contained 'historical fine art courts' including "Egyptian, Alhambra, Roman, Renaissance, Chinese, Pompeian, and Grecian art".
The 19th-century enthusiasm for classical motifs predates the Great Exhibition, though. Most classical designs pre-date 1851 (note that Patricia Samford's 1997 HA paper on dating English underglaze transfer-printed wares puts the mean beginning and end classical motif production dates at 1827-1847), and the use of classical motifs at the Crystal Palace should probably be seen as a response to early 19th-century romanticism - in this specific case inspired by (not in chronological order) the Greek War of Independence, the poetry of Byron, Keats, and Shelley, and the arrival of the Elgin Marbles in London, etc. - rather than as a necessary catalyst for their production. I don't think it's necessary to go looking for a specific Great Exhibition influence on specific classical transfer prints given the general popularity of classical motifs (though I concede it would be interesting if there one could be demonstrably proven - so don't let me discourage you from trying....).
As to the tree, I've occasionally dabbled a bit in looking at whether the highly developed Victorian "language of flowers" might be reflected in transfer prints - and looked a bit at other flora at some point - but I'd need to find my notes. Unfortunately, I'm in the middle of preparing for an international move, so this might not be straightforward.
Alasdair
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Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2013 07:26:55 -0700
From: Tim Bennett <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: "Sydenham" transferware pattern
Alasdair,
Thanks for your reply and correction/clarification regarding the Great Exhibition & Crystal Palace, that was an omission on my part. If I recall correctly from a couple of sources, the Great Exhibition had many exhibits that displayed the latest innovations at the time (including lots of ceramics based on "Commissioners for the Great Exhibition of 1851, Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue, Volume 2" by Robert Ellis), but also had sections dedicated to ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Greece, Rome, etc. I've been able to find a couple of stereoviews taken at the Great Exhibition that show Greek/Roman statues that might have provided the inspiration for the central design found on some of the 1850s classical/romantic patterns of "Sydenham", "Pomona", "Cremona", "Minerva", etc. Again, this is pure speculation on my part, so if anyone has any documented info I would be very glad to have it come forward. One suggestion from http://oldchinaservice.com/transferware/brownsreds/womenvase.html is that the figures are mother and daughter or perhaps "Vertumnus & Pomona and also Jupiter & Callisto, both mythological cases of a man pretending to be somebody else in order to blindside the woman into loving him." I have no idea what the figures represent, if anything, but would be very curious to know if anyone has any other information on this.
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