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Sir Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005) for Wedgwood: "Variations on a Geometric Theme"
$7,000per set
£5,282.71per set
€6,047.90per set
CA$9,872.32per set
A$10,838.58per set
CHF 5,654.51per set
MX$131,161.87per set
NOK 70,870.49per set
SEK 66,778.64per set
DKK 45,145.97per set
About the Item
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005) for Wedgwood: "Variations on a Geometric Theme"
A Complete and Boxed Limited Edition Set of Six Bone China Plates, 1971
This rare, complete, and exceptionally preserved set of six bone china plates is a landmark of 20th-century British art and design. It represents a dynamic collaboration between Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, a founding father of the Pop Art movement, and the legendary ceramics manufacturer, Wedgwood. Issued in a highly limited edition of only 200 sets, this collection is a physical manifestation of Paolozzi's career-long exploration of seriality, printmaking, and the blurred line between fine art and industrial craft.
Description and Design
Each of the six plates features a unique, complex, and rhythmic abstract composition. Paolozzi used his signature collage-like approach to create dynamic arrangements of vertical bands, zigzags, stripes, and circular motifs. The bold, graphic patterns are rendered in a striking palette of red, black, and lustrous gold.
Crucially, the decoration was applied using modern screen-printing techniques rather than traditional hand-painting. This allowed the artist to treat the ceramic surface as a new medium for his printmaking investigations, exploring how variations on a theme are affected by the mechanical process. The set is in remarkable original condition, with each plate in its pink slipcover and Wedgwood plastic bag, all housed in the original pink Perspex presentation box.
Historical Background & Context 🧐
The Artist: Sir Eduardo Paolozzi was a seminal Scottish artist whose work in sculpture and, most notably, screenprinting in the 1960s, helped define the visual language of Pop Art. His public works, like the celebrated mosaics in London's Tottenham Court Road tube station, are iconic. His interest in the mechanical reproduction of images and the collage aesthetic are central to his entire body of work.
The Collaboration: In the late 1960s, Paolozzi was appointed as a tutor in the Ceramics Department at the Royal College of Art, despite not being a trained potter. His conceptual approach heavily influenced a generation of British ceramic artists. This project with Wedgwood, conceived shortly after his appointment, was a natural extension of his teaching and artistic philosophy. It allowed him to apply his avant-garde printmaking ideas to the precise, industrial production of fine bone china.
Significance and Rarity: As one of only 200 sets produced, this collection is exceptionally rare. Its importance is underscored by the inclusion of sets in major museum collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum (a set given by the artist himself), the Wedgwood Museum, and the National Museum of Scotland. A set was also famously in the collection of H.R.H. The Princess Margaret, cementing its status as a coveted piece of modern design from the moment of its creation.
Details, Condition & Provenance
Condition: Excellent, mint condition. The plates are preserved in their original sleeves and bags. The original Perspex box is intact, with a professional repair to one side panel.
Dimensions: Diameter: 10 1/2 inches (26.8 cm).
Museum Collections: Sets are held by The Victoria & Albert Museum, London; The Wedgwood Museum; and The National Museum of Scotland.
(Ref: NY9268/CIIR)
- Creator:Eduardo Paolozzi (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 1 in (2.54 cm)Diameter: 10 in (25.4 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 6
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1971
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. The pink plexiglass box has a break to one side and has been glued back. It is unusual to still find the original box.
- Seller Location:Downingtown, PA
- Reference Number:Seller: Ref NY9268/CIIR1stDibs: LU861018237102
Eduardo Paolozzi
Eduardo Paolozzi (1924 – 2005) was a prolific and inventive Scottish artist most known for his marriage of Surrealism's early principles with brave new elements of popular culture, modern machinery and technology. He was raised in the shadows of World War II in a family deeply affected by the divisive nature of a country involved in conflict, which birthed his lifelong exploration into the many ways humans are influenced by external, uncontrollable forces. This exploration would come to inform a vast and various body of work that vacillated between the darker and lighter consequences of society's advancements and its so-called progress. His collages reflect the way contemporary culture and mass media influenced individual identity. Some of these, with their appropriation of American advertising's look and feel would inspire the future Pop art movement.
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