James Giles (porcelain decorator)
Encyclopedia
Royal Crown Derby
The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is a porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England. The company, particularly known for its high-quality bone china, has produced tableware and ornamental items since approximately 1750...
, Bow
Bow porcelain factory
The Bow porcelain factory was an emulative rival of the Chelsea porcelain factory in the manufacture of early soft-paste porcelain in Great Britain...
and Chelsea porcelain and also glass, who created gilt and enamelled objects such as decanters, drinking-glasses, perfume bottles and rosewater sprinklers, for a rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
and neoclassical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
market.
Producing work similar to the enameling done by the later Ralph
Ralph Beilby
Ralph Beilby was an English engraver, working chiefly on silver and copper.He was the son of William Beilby, a jeweller and goldsmith of Durham who later moved to Newcastle upon Tyne to look for better opportunities. Ralph became a silversmith, jeweller, and seal-engraver under his father and...
and William Beilby
William Beilby
William Beilby was a British glassworker known to have produced eminent enamelled glass during the later half of the 18th century....
of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, he maintained a showroom in fashionable Cockspur Street
Cockspur Street
Cockspur Street is a short thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, London, which links Trafalgar Square to Pall Mall, The Haymarket and Pall Mall East. On 29 June 2007, a car containing significant amounts of explosives was found on Cockspur Street. It did not detonate...
in London, enjoying the patronage of royalty and affluent clients including Clive of India, the Duke of Northumberland
Duke of Northumberland
The Duke of Northumberland is a title in the peerage of Great Britain that has been created several times. Since the third creation in 1766, the title has belonged to the House of Percy , which held the title of Earl of Northumberland from 1377....
, Princess Amelia (the second daughter of George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
), Thomas Pitt
Thomas Pitt
Thomas Pitt , born at Blandford Forum, Dorset, to a rector and his wife, was a British merchant involved in trade with India....
, the Duke of Marlborough, the painter George Stubbs
George Stubbs
George Stubbs was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses.-Biography:Stubbs was born in Liverpool, the son of a currier and leather merchant. Information on his life up to age thirty-five is sparse, relying almost entirely on notes made by fellow artist Ozias Humphry towards the...
and Horace Walpole.
Family History
His father, also James Giles, was of a HuguenotHuguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
family named 'Gilles', from Nîmes
Nîmes
Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
. James senior was recorded in 1729 as being a 'China Painter' and living in London. His son, Abraham, was recorded in the same year as being apprenticed to Philip Margas, of the Glass Sellers' Company, whereas James junior was indentured in 1733 to John Arthur, a jeweller at St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is an Anglican church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Its patron is Saint Martin of Tours.-Roman era:Excavations at the site in 2006 led to the discovery of a grave dated about 410...
.
Career
About 1756 he rented a workshop with a kiln in Kentish TownKentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of north west London, England in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The most widely accepted explanation of the name of Kentish Town is that it derived from 'Ken-ditch' meaning the 'bed of a waterway'...
and by 1763 had moved on to Berwick Street. A few years later he started a showroom in the Arts Museum in Cockspur Street, opposite the Haymarket, seemingly with the support of the Worcester porcelain factory. When his collaboration with Worcester ended in 1771, he moved to an address in the same street at the north-west corner of Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
.
The business ledgers for 1771–76 still exist. They record orders for some 50 000 Worcester pieces between 1771 and 1774, and glass bought for ₤234 from William Parker's Glass Warehouse in Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
- a figure amounting to fifteen per cent of Giles's annual budget. William Parker was a leading glass merchant as was another of Giles's suppliers, the Falcon glasshouse, near Southwark Bridge
Southwark Bridge
Southwark Bridge is an arch bridge for traffic linking Southwark and the City across the River Thames, in London, England. It was designed by Ernest George and Basil Mott. It was built by Sir William Arrol & Co. and opened in 1921...
. The business was covered by Sun Insurance policies that valued his stock at £2 000 in November 1771, substantially more than the stock valuation of £680 for the Worcester factory at that time.
Financial Problems
Although he created outstanding works of art, Giles was financially incompetent. Dealing with the aristocracy and the affluent led to lengthy delays in their settling of accounts - delays of a few years were commonplace. Richard Sheridan, for instance, settled his account three years after taking delivery. Worthies such as Lord PalmerstonHenry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston
Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston FRS was a British politician.-Life:He succeeded to the peerage in 1757, and was educated at Clare College, Cambridge from 1757 to 1759...
, Lord Melbourne
Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne
Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne , known as Sir Peniston Lamb, 2nd Baronet, from 1768 to 1770, was a British politician and the father of Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne....
, Lady Jersey
Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey
Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey was one of the more notorious of the many mistresses of King George IV when he was Prince of Wales, "a scintillating society woman, a heady mix of charm, beauty, and sarcasm".-Early life:She was born Frances Twysden, second and posthumous daughter of the Rev...
and the Duchess of Leinster
Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster
Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster , known before 1747 as Lady Emily Lennox, from 1747 to 1761 as The Countess of Kildare and from 1761 to 1766 as The Marchioness of Kildare, was the second of the famous Lennox sisters, daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and illegitimately...
only paid their accounts after Giles's death and under pressure from the creditors.
His declaration of bankruptcy in 1774 was brought about by his rivals in porcelain decorating, notably Worcester porcelain, in order to eliminate him from the trade. His many bankruptcies and their documentary trail have provided a rich source of information for modern scholars. On the other hand he showed great skill in dealing with his staff, enabling his workshop to turn out a prodigious number of pieces of the highest quality. His staff would have included his daughters, Mary (1741–1806) and Sarah Teresa (1742–1800). Others employed were Lewis Barbar, a Swedish miniaturist and 'China Painter', and a Frenchman, Fidelle Duvivier.
Aesthetic Qualities
The identification of Giles's work is bedevilled by an absence of signatures or marks. Two Christie'sChristie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
auctions over this period help to clear up uncertainty by the complete catalogue descriptions of some 1 400 lots. His porcelain styles of decoration, despite their quality, are sometimes rightly criticised for being stylistically derivative, causing problems to all but the most knowledgeable of experts. His work in the style of Sèvres
Manufacture nationale de Sèvres
The manufacture nationale de Sèvres is a Frit porcelain porcelain tendre factory at Sèvres, France. Formerly a royal, then an imperial factory, the facility is now run by the Ministry of Culture.-Brief history:...
and Meissen
Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china is the first European hard-paste porcelain that was developed from 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger, continued his work and brought porcelain to the market...
is particularly difficult to attribute. The same observation cannot be made of his quite distinctive glasswork which in most respects was original. Some of his work was exported to America - notes from his ledger record sales between 1772 and 1775 of seven 'Parcels of China & Glass' to Sir Egerton Leigh, 1st Baronet
Leigh Baronets
There have been six Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Leigh, two in the Baronetage of England, one in the Baronetage of Ireland, one in the Baronetage of Great Britain and two in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom...
, Attorney General of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
for the princely sum of ₤380.