The orange gum blossoms featuring on this cup and saucer set were designed by Marian Ellis Rowan (1848-1922), a significant Australian artist well known for her beautifully executed paintings of Australian flora and fauna.

Australian flora in decorative arts became extremely popular, and commercially profitable, during the early 1900s. From 1906 Ellis Rowan worked towards her major selling exhibition which was held at Angus and Robertson's in Sydney in August 1910. Her aim was to record all known Australian wildflowers. It was during this time that several designs of waratah, gum blossom and other Australian flora were acquired by the Flavelle Brothers, a highly reputable Sydney jeweller and importer of English porcelain. William Flavelle either purchased them from the 1910 exhibition or, more likely, commissioned specific designs directly from Rowan. These designs were forwarded to the Royal Worcester Porcelain Co Ltd to produce a series of hand-painted porcelain tableware. Several dozen original watercolours by Rowan still survive in the Worcester archives.

Established in 1851, Royal Worcester has a long and reputable history in manufacturing fine porcelain. This set was hand-painted by Ernest John Phillips, a horticulturist who worked at Royal Worcester from 1890-1932 specialising in the painting of intricate flower- work. It was later exhibited at the Panama Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) 1915, San Francisco, which attracted millions of people from around the world and was described in the PPIE brochure as being 'an encyclopedia of modern achievement'.

One of a larger group, this cup and saucer set was acquired by the Museum (formerly known as the Technological Museum) whilst it was under the direction of Richard Thomas Baker, who worked at the Museum in the years before and after Federation (1896-1921), at a time when Australian cultural identity was being questioned and explored. Baker had a keen interest in objects that promoted Australian flora and other native motifs as decorative themes of applied arts, and believed that the promotion of such motifs in the arts would cement patriotism and advocate national efficiency. This passion for native motifs shaped the development of a significant part of the Museum's collection, and was responsible for the 1906 instillation of a new gallery illustrating 'Australian Flora Applied to Art', described in the Annual Report, 1906, as being 'a unique exhibition, consisting of over 200 specimens'. Today the Powerhouse Museum's 'Australian flora' collection is an important record of early endeavours to create an identifiably national decorative arts style.

The Museum began purchasing items produced by Royal Worcester for Flavelle Brothers in 1914. Today, porcelain tableware designed by Ellis Rowan and made by Royal Worcester is rare and eagerly sought by collectors. This tableware is amongst the most significant items of the Museum's ceramics collection. Their exquisite design and manufacture is given further significance through its relation to one of Australia's finest painters of native flora.

REF:
Collins, Kate, 'Ellis Rowan 1848-1922: A Biographical Sketch', Famous Australian Series, Mallard Press, 1989
Fullerton, Patricia, 'The Flower Hunter: Ellis Rowan', National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2002
Hazzard, Margaret, 'Australia's Brilliant Daughter, Ellis Rowan: Artist, Naturalist, Explorer', Greenhouse Publications, Richmond, 1984
Hawkins, John, 'Of war, waratahs and Worcester', The Australian Antique Dealer's Fair, Sydney,1995. pp17-20
Sandon, John, 'Royal Worcester and Ellis Rowan', The Australian Antique Collector, 47th ed, Jan)June, 1994, pp28-31
National Library of Australia, http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/ellisrowan/home.html
San Francisco Memories, http://www.sanfranciscomemories.com/ppie/1915.html
Panama-Pacific International Exposition Brochure, 1915, http://www.sfmuseum.net/hist9/ppietxt1.html
Worcester Porcelain Museum, http://www.worcesterporcelainmuseum.org.uk/uploaded/documents/16RoyalWorcester20thcen.pdf

Marian Ellis Rowan, an Australian artist and botanical collector, was born on 30 July 1848, Melbourne, and died 4 October 1922, Macedon, Victoria. Ellis Rowan received no formal training, however went on to become one of Australia's most famous and accomplished natural history artists. Rowan exhibited in Australia, India, England, Europe and the USA and published a number of articles and books, including 'A Flower-Hunter in Queensland'.

In the early 1900s the Flavelle Brothers, well-known Sydney jewellers, had a series of ceramics produced by Royal Worcester Porcelain Co, onto which Rowan's commissioned designs were hand-painted. A number of these pieces were exhibited at the Panama Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) 1915, San Francisco.

This teacup was exhibited in 'The Flower Hunter: Ellis Rowan', National Library of Australia from the 25 October to 27 January 2003, Canberra, Australia

REF:
Collins, Kate, 'Ellis Rowan 1848-1922: A Biographical Sketch', Famous Australian Series, Mallard Press, 1989
Fullerton, Patricia, 'The Flower Hunter: Ellis Rowan', National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2002
Hazzard, Margaret, 'Australia's Brilliant Daughter, Ellis Rowan: Artist, Naturalist, Explorer', Greenhouse Publications, Richmond, 1984

Cup, orange flowering gum design, porcelain, hand painted by Ernest John Phillips from a Marian Ellis drawing for Worcester Royal Porcelain Co Ltd, England, 1912, retailed by Flavelle Brothers Ltd, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1912

Cup, made of porcelain, hand painted with an orange flowering gum design on a pale blue ground, irregular scallop indentations and a gilt rim. Cup is signed by the artist. Base has makers marks.

Made: 1912

Artist's signature inside below image 'E Phillips'. Maker's mark, under base purple transfer print, a circle bearing four linked "W"s and surmounted with a crown, is ringed with lettering "ROYAL WORCESTER ENGLAND" above this is the legend "FLAVELLE.BROS.LTD", Inscription, handwritten red, under glaze, "C / 153 / A".

A1668-2

1912

55 mm

120 mm

95 mm