Hester Bateman, Queen of Silversmiths: Eighteenth-Century English Silver On permanent exhibition, Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature, University of Richmond Museums Opening April 1, 2008, the University of Richmond Museums is pleased to announce the installation of a new exhibition on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century decorative arts at the Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature. Highlighting a recent acquisition of English silver, Hester Bateman, Queen of Silversmiths: Eighteenth-Century English Silver, is featured along with selections of eighteenth-century British and Dutch drinking vessels and nineteenth-century Parian porcelain. Active as a silversmith from her husband’s death in 1760 to her retirement at the age of 81 in 1790, Hester Bateman (British, 1709-1794) is one of the most well-known eighteenth-century English silversmiths, famous for the clean lines and simple aesthetic of her beautiful silverwork. Turning her husband’s small silver business into a thriving family workshop, Bateman is recognized not only for her craft but also for her skill as a successful businesswoman in an era in which women, with the exception of widows, were not allowed trade guild membership. The exhibition includes pieces that suggest the many ways in which silver was used in eighteenth-century dining. Also on view are works by William and Peter Bateman, Bateman’s son and grandson, who continued the House of Bateman tradition after the silversmith’s death in 1794. The exhibition features a selection of silver from a recent gift to the University Museums by Mr. E. Parker Brown and Mrs. Emma Ziegler Brown. Also, several pieces are on loan from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts from a 2001 gift from Mrs. E. Claiborne Robins.
Complementing the new exhibition of Hester Bateman silver, is a selection of eighteenth-century British and Dutch drinking vessels. As diverse in style as in purpose, the objects range from a simplistic ale glass to an ornate wine glass with Jacobite engravings. Also on view is a selection of nineteenth-century British and American Parian porcelain featuring busts, pitchers, and other decorative pieces from the permanent collection. Developed at the Staffordshire pottery of Copeland and Garrett in 1842, parian ceramics were the first mass-produced porcelains in England. A hard paste porcelain marked by its smooth, white, and often unglazed surface, the cast wares became popular in both the United States and Great Britain in the nineteenth century. The exhibition, Hester Bateman, Queen of English Silversmiths: Eighteenth-Century English Silver, was co-curated by Richard Waller, Executive Director, University Museums, and Kristen Malanoski, ’08, history and art history double major, and the 2007-2008 student curatorial assistant. The permanent display of decorative arts, including selections of eighteenth-century British and Dutch drinking vessels and nineteenth-century Parian porcelain was curated by Richard Waller, Kristen Malanoski, and Alicia McCarty, ’08, studio art and international studies double major, and the 2007-2008 student collections assistant.