Ewer

In 1884 Brooklyn’s Faience Manufacturing Company hired English ceramist Edward Lycett to revitalize its commercially stagnant wares. The decorative scene of a chicken and rooster strutting among raspberry vines on a bright blue background recalls Chinese ceramics, as well as the work of French artist-potter Théodore Deck, in the polychromatic, overglazed decoration with multiple textures. Lycett transformed the artistic identity of the firm by experimenting with clay bodies and glazes, creating works on a monumental scale, and refining designs based on the Aesthetic movement—a combination of Japanese, Chinese, and Near Eastern motifs.