Michael Kean | |
---|---|
Born | Dublin, Ireland |
Died | November 1823 London, England |
Nationality | Irish |
Education | Royal Academy of Arts |
Occupation | Artist |
Spouse | Elizabeth |
Children | 1 |
Michael Kean (died 1823) was an Irish artist. He was a miniature painter, and for a period was owner of the porcelain factory in Derby later known as Royal Crown Derby.
Kean was born in Dublin; he entered the Dublin Society's drawing schools in 1771 and studied ornament, landscape and figure drawing. In 1779 he gained a silver medal of the Dublin Society for drawings of sculpture. [1]
Intending to become a sculptor, he was apprenticed to the sculptor Edward Smyth, but he established himself as a miniature portrait painter, moving to London where he practiced successfully. He exhibited at the Royal Academy each year from 1786 to 1790, and at the exhibitions of the Free Society of Artists. [1] [2]
In 1795 Kean entered into a partnership with William Duesbury II, proprietor of the porcelain factory in Derby later known as Royal Crown Derby. After Duesbury's death in 1796 he became manager of the factory; in 1798 he married Duesbury's widow Elizabeth, and they had one son. [1]
During his period of management he introduced improvements in manufacture, and standards of porcelain decoration improved; the reputation of the factory increased. Kean, a hot-tempered man, quarrelled with his wife and stepchildren over the business, and lawsuits resulted. In 1811 Kean disposed of the factory and Robert Bloor, his clerk, took over. He retired to London, and died there in November 1823. [1] [2] [3]
Chelsea porcelain is the porcelain made by the Chelsea porcelain manufactory, the first important porcelain manufactory in England, established around 1743–45, and operating independently until 1770, when it was merged with Derby porcelain. It made soft-paste porcelain throughout its history, though there were several changes in the "body" material and glaze used. Its wares were aimed at a luxury market, and its site in Chelsea, London, was close to the fashionable Ranelagh Gardens pleasure ground, opened in 1742.
In pottery hausmaler is a term for the artist, the style, and the pieces in hausmalerei, the process of buying pieces of pottery as plain "blanks", and then painting them in small workshops, or the homes of painters, before a final firing. In European pottery of the 17th to 19th centuries this was at certain times and places a significant part of production, and the decoration could be of very high quality. In England this was referred to as "outside decoration" and was also very important in the 18th and early 19th century, with some revival in the 20th.
The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England. The company, particularly known for its high-quality bone china, having produced tableware and ornamental items since approximately 1750. It was known as 'Derby Porcelain' until 1773, when it became 'Crown Derby', the 'Royal' being added in 1890.
Henry Bone was an English enamel painter. By c. 1800 he had attracted royal patronage for his portrait miniatures This patronage continued throughout the reigns of three monarchs; George III, George IV and William IV. In his early career he worked as a porcelain and jewellery painter. He was elected a Royal Academician and produced the largest enamel paintings ever seen up to that time.
William John Coffee (1774–1846) was an English artist and sculptor who worked in porcelain, plaster, and terra cotta. He also worked in oil paint, although this was not the medium for which he became famous. His early career was as a modeller for William Duesbury at the china factory on Nottingham Road in Derby, England. The latter part of his life was spent in America.
William Billingsley (1758–1828) was an influential painter of porcelain in several English porcelain factories, who also developed his own recipe for soft-paste porcelain, which produced beautiful results but a very high rate of failure in firing. He is a leading name associated with the English Romantic style of paintings of groups of flowers on porcelain that is sometimes called "naturalistic" by older sources, although that may not seem its main characteristic today.
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The Bow porcelain factory was an emulative rival of the Chelsea porcelain factory in the manufacture of early soft-paste porcelain in Great Britain. The two London factories were the first in England. It was originally located near Bow, in what is now the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, but by 1749 it had moved to "New Canton", sited east of the River Lea, and then in Essex, now in the London Borough of Newham.
William Duesbury (1725–1786) was an English enameller, in the sense of a painter of porcelain, who became an important porcelain entrepreneur, founder of the Royal Crown Derby and owner of porcelain factories at Bow, Chelsea, Derby and Longton Hall.
Ramsay Richard Reinagle was an English portrait, landscape, and animal painter, and son of Philip Reinagle.
Bernard Mulrenin, was an Irish painter best known for his miniatures.
John James Barralet was an Irish artist who spent the later part of his career in the United States.
John Comerford was an Irish miniature painter active in Kilkenny and Dublin. He exhibited in London at the Royal Academy in 1804 and 1809.
John Haslem (1808–1884), was an English china and enamel painter, and writer. He painted many portrait miniatures of Queen Victoria, the Royal Family and other nobility.
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William Derby (1786–1847) was an English portraitist, miniature painter and copyist.
William Duesbury (1763–1796), was the owner of Royal Crown Derby pottery works.
Thomas Foster was an Irish portrait painter.
Thomas James Mulvany (1779–1845) was an Irish painter and keeper of the Royal Hibernian Academy.
William Riviere (1806–1876) sometimes Rivière, was an English painter and art educator.