A PAIR OF WEDGWOOD STYLE BLACK BASALT OVAL PLAQUES OF 'NIGHT' AND 'DAY' 20TH CENTURY

Collection of Theodore and Rosalind Spak, Miami, no. 329 bearing label, 1984

A non-period, non-factory plaque of 'Night', of identical large size to the present lot, is illustrated and discussed in Gaye Blake-Roberts, Pat Halfpenny and Lynn Miller, 'Wedgwood and Bentley: The Art of Deception', Ars Ceramica, 1994, p. 42, pl. 54, as part of a wider discussion of such pieces believed to have been made in England in the third quarter of the 20th century. The authors note that no Wedgwood and Bentley examples of the size were known to them, although the model in that size is noted in Wedgwood's Catalogue of 1773. The present plaque of 'Night' shares the characteristics of the example illustrated and other non-period, non-factory black basalt wares, leading to the conclusion that the present pair are later copies and not of Wedgwood manufacture. A pair of similar type was sold at Doyle New York, January 29, 2014, lot 295.