In the late 19th century, china painting emerged as a refined and socially acceptable art form for Victorian women, and Phoebe Watson quickly became one of its most skilled and recognizable practitioners.
China painting was one of the few art forms that was dominated by women and was considered a socially acceptable hobby or occupation for a middle-class woman. Phoebe Watson became well known for her beautifully painted vases, plates, and teacups. Her artwork was signed with her initials “P.A.W,” for Phoebe Amelia Watson. Besides her very distinctive signature, there is another mark that frequently appears on her china pieces.
Although Phoebe painted the decorative landscapes and flowers on the china, she did not sculpt the pottery herself. Instead, she purchased pottery “blanks” to use as her canvas. The manufacturer of these pieces would leave their own markings, often known as “maker’s marks.” These markings can provide a wealth of information for researchers and collectors, including the location and date of manufacture, and the company that produced them. When museums and galleries catalogue an artifact, the maker’s marks are included with any other recorded information. The marks can help provide an approximate date for the piece, indicate what types of china Phoebe had access to and where they were imported from and whether she had preferred suppliers.
A small vase painted by Phoebe, has the example of the maker’s mark reads: “R.C. Bavaria.” Also visible are the date of the piece, Phoebe’s signature, and the inventory mark added by the museum. By current practices at HWHG, the museum inventory mark should have been applied in a blank area so as not to obscure any historic markings.
The maker’s mark on this piece is known as a Rosenthal Mark, named for the German designer, Phillip Rosenthal. The Rosenthals were of Jewish Heritage and fled Germany at the start of the Second World War. The factory was then taken over by the Nazi government, which is why you will see Nazi iconography often appears in markings from this period. If this vase was not dated, the lack of Nazi iconography would provide a strong indication that the piece was manufactured pre-WWII.
After the War, the Rosenthal family returned to Germany and reclaimed the business. This again resulted in a change in the type of marking used by the company.
Researching the maker’s mark of an artifact can add another level of history to it, and in this case, we not only have the story of the art and the artist, but the origin of the material itself. Maker’s marks help us place ceramic art in a broader, often international context, as well as better our understanding of world events at the time of Phoebe’s artistic career.
