{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O148466"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O148466/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BP0946/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2007BP0946/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2007BP0946","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O148466/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O148466","accessionNumber":"C.1151&A-1917","objectType":"Tobacco jar","titles":[{"title":"Martin Ware","type":"manufacturer's title"}],"summaryDescription":"<i>If Martin-ware [… has] not the transparency of porcelain nor the elaborately and costly ornamentation of Sèvres [it is] pure and honest art work.</i>\r\n\r\nThis is how the art critic Cosmo Monkhouse described the output of the Martin Brothers' studio in The Magazine of Art in 1882. Eccentric founder Robert Wallace Martin and his siblings Charles, Walter and Edwin epitomized the energy and experimentation of the nineteenth-century art pottery movement. They regarded pottery as a means of artistic expression, rather than a product of industrial manufacture, and were particularly inspired by the naturalistic and rustic flora and fauna forms of the sixteenth-century potter Bernard Palissy (see p.000).\r\n\tThis jar is typical of the Martin Brothers' grotesque and eccentric stonewares and demonstrates a unique blend of fantasy and imagination. The function of these anthropomorphic lidded wares, which were produced in many different shapes and sizes, is unclear. They have been called 'tobacco jars', since Monkhouse used this term, but they are not airtight and the interiors are not finished to a standard fit for storage, suggesting an essentially ornamental and aesthetic purpose.\r\n\tThe Martin Brothers drew upon an eclectic range of sources for their work and it is possible that these jars were inspired by traditional English owl-shaped pottery jugs. Martin-ware birds are not of any known species, and in many examples the lidded heads are made to swivel on the body, further enhancing their irregular form, which evades both meaning and classification.","physicalDescription":"Tobacco jar and cover. Stoneware. Modelled, carved and incised in the form of a grotesque bird. Ivory, green, brown & black glaze. Round ebonised wooden base.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Martin, Robert Wallace","id":"A1421"},"association":{"text":"modeller","id":"AAT25417"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Martin Brothers","id":"A1420"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Stoneware","id":"x30197"}],"techniques":[{"text":"modelled","id":"x30779"},{"text":"carved","id":"AAT53149"},{"text":"incised","id":"AAT53847"},{"text":"painted","id":"AAT161986"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Salt-glazed stoneware, ebonised wood","categories":[{"text":"Ceramics","id":"THES48982"},{"text":"Art Pottery","id":"THES49021"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"CER","id":"THES48594"},"images":["2007BP0946"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"145 (VA)","id":"THES49865"},"free":"","case":"52","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"145 (VA)","id":"THES49865"},"free":"","case":"52","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Vessel","id":""}],[{"text":"Cover","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Southall","id":"x30196"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1887","earliest":"1887-01-01","latest":"1887-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Alfred R. Holland, Esq.","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"30","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"with mount","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"17.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"with mount","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'R.W. Martin & Brothers /   London & Southall /  1-1887'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Maker's mark incised on neck of lid"},{"content":"'R.W. Martin Bro / Southall 87'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Maker's mark incised on foot"}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Large bird 'Martin Ware' tobacco jar, salt-glazed stoneware, modelled by R. Wallace Martin and made by Martin Bros., Southall, 1887","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Liefkes, Reino and Hilary Young (eds.) <i>Masterpieces of World Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum</i>. London: V&A Publishing, 2008","id":"AUTH354348"},"details":"p. 122, ill.","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Sculpture 'Martin Ware'\nModelled by R. Wallace Martin, made by the Martin Bros., Southall, Middlesex, England, 1887\nMarks: 'R W Martin & Brothers, London & Southall 1-1887, R Wallace Martin Sc. Southall 87', incised\nSalt-glazed stoneware\n\nC.1151&A-1917 Given by Alfred. R. Holland Esq.","date":{"text":"23/05/2008","earliest":"2008-05-23","latest":"2008-05-23"}}],"partNumbers":["C.1151-1917","C.1151A-1917"],"accessionNumberNum":"1151","accessionNumberPrefix":"C","accessionYear":1917,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Vessel","Cover"],"assets":["2019LP4676","2019LP0790","2019LT6416","2019LT5212","2019LW3653","2019LW0087"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-18","recordCreationDate":"2008-03-31","availableToBook":false}}