Foraging Bear De Morgan’s Cabinet Handle Towel Pull

LSA Foraging Bear

Crackle glazed ceramic 43mm dia handle.
Screw in with washer and two nuts for positioning.
Supplied in branded ribbon gift box

About the Artwork
This Foraging Bear Charger is part of the collection at Canon Hall, Barnsley in the De Morgan Collection. This Ruby Lustre Charger shows a bear in a floral border on a Maw and Co. marked plate.
Maw & Co. was heavily influenced by the ceramics of William De Morgan, especially within lusterware. However, a label on the back states that it is designed by William De Morgan and “given to the de Morgan Collection, old Battersea House, by the late Mrs Walter Pease, of Moulton Hall, Richmond, Yorkshire, and handed over to the Stirling Trustees by the National Trust.
The exact production details of this charger are unclear. Whilst it was certainly manufactured by Maw & Co., unusually, it has no decorator’s mark. Though possible that the blank plate was decorated in De Morgan's workshop, with no mark, perhaps this charger was decorated by an artist working at Jackfield, another tile factory.
Both scenarios are possible but without the mark of authenticity or in this case, the decorator’s mark, the heritage of the piece cannot be verified and therefore sadly, some value is lost.