“American Scenery and Souvenirs: Transferware by Paul Scott” highlights the work of artist Paul Scott, whose familiar-looking, blue-and-white ceramics subvert traditional tableware motifs with scenes from life in America today. The exhibition will open at the Lightner Museum on April 24 and run through Oct. 27.
In the 19th century, blue-and-white transferware plates depicting American scenery, cities and iconic landmarks were mass-produced by potteries in Staffordshire, England, for export to the United States. By the start of the 20th century, these works became immensely popular collectibles, cherished by the American middle class as souvenirs of travel and experience. The collecting mania generated a new wave of souvenir transferwares imported by companies including Rowland and Marsellus, Jon Roth and Jones, and McDuffee and Stratton.
A British artist with an international reputation, Scott uses traditional designs associated with mass produced domestic tableware and alters them to comment on modern society.
“My work references and updates the original transferware created by British factories in the 19th and early 20th centuries,” Scott explained. “During my research trips across the U.S., I became acutely aware of the stark contrast between the idealized imagery of early transferware and the contemporary landscape I was experiencing.”
In “American Scenery and Souvenirs,” nuclear power plants, decaying urban centers, abandoned industrial sites, wildfires and border walls intrude amidst the traditionally bucolic landscape. These provocative scenes transform the picturesque aesthetic associated with American transferware, challenging the viewer to reconsider the nation’s environmental and social realities.
The exhibition at the Lightner Museum presents Scott’s plates, platters and jugs alongside vintage ceramics from the Lightner Museum's collection.
“The exhibition provides a unique opportunity to showcase parts of the Lightner collection in a new context,” said David Bagnall, executive director of the Lightner Museum. “The transferware plates in our collection were originally collected and displayed to memorialize personal travels and experiences. When paired with Paul Scott’s work, they spark a dialogue between the past and present — between the romanticized views of the 19th and early 20th centuries and America today.”
Scott’s works are held in numerous museum collections and have been exhibited widely across Europe and the United States. He is represented in the United States by Ferrin Contemporary.
“American Scenery and Souvenirs: Transferware by Paul Scott” is presented at the Lightner Museum by the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida. Additional support comes from the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council and the St. Johns Cultural Council.
To coincide with the opening on April 24, the Lightner Museum will host a free Community Open House from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. for museum members and St. Johns County residents. In addition to “American Scenery and Souvenirs: Transferware by Paul Scott,” visitors will be able to tour the following exhibitions: “The Gilded Age: Treasures from the Lightner Museum,” “American Stories: Paintings and Sculpture from the Lightner Museum,” “Laura Mongiovi: Empire” and “Riding High: Vintage Bicycles from the Keith Pariani Collection.”
For more information, go to lightnermuseum.org or call 904-824-2874.
