Jardiniere c.1890

This elaborate Jardiniere by JL Watts is representative of the neoclassical decorative objects that found popularity in colonial Australia in the late nineteenth century. While based in Brisbane, Watts’s iconography was inspired by a popular appetite for British designs, developed by followers of the Aesthetic Movement (c.1860–1900) who favoured ornate decorations drawn from diverse sources, including ancient Greece. 

Intended as flowerpot, the Jardiniere references a Greek vessel called a volute krater, named for the spiral flourishes that decorate its handles. Adorned with grotesque masks and a string of ivy that refers to ancient Greek decorative traditions, the pot’s prominent sunflower motifs were fashionable during the Victorian Aesthetic Movement, symbolising happiness and aesthetic appreciation due to their ability to turn towards the sun. In these respects, the Jardiniere is an example of the sumptuous work produced during Brisbane’s burgeoning pottery industry and the diverse European touchpoints that influenced decorative objects in the colony.