A COMMEMORATIVE STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERY DISH FOR THE CONGO RELIEF EXPEDITION OF 1887
Wallis Gimson & Co., Fenton, Staffordshire, England, 1887

Of octagonal shape, resting on a short circular foot, with an everted flattened rim, the earthenware body, transfer-printed and hand-coloured with designs commemorating the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition of 1887 undertaken by H. M. Stanley, at the top in the centre a portrait of Stanley himself flanked by commemorative inscriptions, in the lower left a portrait of Emin Bey and lower right a map of Africa, in between grisaille images of the villages of Kiri and the Lado enclave, lush vegetation to the sides, the base with an inventory number in black R. N. E. 3164, 24cm long and 27.5cm longest diam.

The company Wallis Gimson & Co., 19th-century English earthenware manufacturer at the Lane Delph Pottery, Fenton, Staffordshire, often produced series of ware with exotic flowers and maps, reflecting the influence of the Aesthetic Movement and the period’s keen interest in nature and travel to exotic lands. That said, one of the most remarkable and collected series they produced was the one of Victorian commemorative wares, such as The World and Achievements of Notable Victorians, of which several exemplars are now in national museums' collections. For another dish part of our series, please see the British Museum collection, London (inv. no. 2016,8029.1).