AN EARLY VICTORIAN 'GOTHIC' TERRACOTTA URN ON PEDESTAL

In the early 1840's James Pulham (1820-1898) founded his 'artificial stone' manufactory at Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, moving shortly after to nearby Broxbourne, producing not only ceramic but also Portland cement wares. Their diverse range not only included the usual array of garden ornaments but large scale hard landscaping and architectural works including bridges, giant rockeries, cliffs and ravines.
At the London Great Exhibition of 1851 the firm exhibited 'Gothic Vase' of apparently identical design to the present lot which was subsequently listed in the 1854 Blashfield's catalogue as 'No 180. Gothic Vase, by PULHAM, exhibited at the Great Exhibition, 1851... £12 12s 0d.' (John Davis, Antique Garden Ornament, Woodbridge, 1991, pp. 186-189 with an illustration of the Great exhibition vas on p. 189).