1920s Daisy Makeig-Jones Wedgwood Ruby Lustre Butterfly Box

Description

A ruby lustre box with mother-of-pearl lustre interior and decorated with polychrome butterflies in gold, designed by Daisy Makeig-Jones circa … more A ruby lustre box with mother-of-pearl lustre interior and decorated with polychrome butterflies in gold, designed by Daisy Makeig-Jones circa 1920.

This pattern, Z4827, was number 5 of the revolutionary First Ten Lustres range introduced by Makeig-Jones at Wedgwood in 1914.

Designer Daisy Makeig-Jones created whimsical and unique ceramics for Wedgwood in the beginning of the 20th century. Her creations brought the factory back to the forefront of pottery innovation and provided middle-class consumers with an aesthetic escape during the years of the First World War. Indeed, Makeig-Jones’s lustrewares saw high sales during the war. The Z4827 lustre range on this box, featuring gilded butterflies on a ruby lustre exterior and with a mother-of-pearl lustre interior, was the second most popular in terms of quantities sold. A small box such as this one would have sat on a vanity as an affordable, everyday luxury item.

Dimensions: 3 1/2 in. L x 2 1/2 D 1 1/4 H (8.9 cm L x 5.1 cm D x 3.2 cm H)
Condition: Very good. Gilding in excellent condition. Some rubbing to glaze on edges on box, notably on the bottom.

References:
Una des Fontaines, Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre: the Work of Daisy-Makeig Jones (New York: Born-Hawes, 1975). less