Wedgwood Majolica Cherry Blossom and Fan Plate Owned by Andre Leon Talley

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Wedgwood Majolica Fan Strawberry Set, Argenta, with a storied heritage and provenance, owned by Legendary Fashion Icon André Leon Talley! This plate is adorned in a Fan pattern with cherry blossoms and butterfly motifs; inspired by the widespread interest in Japanese styles and aesthetics after the International Exhibitions of that time. This is in the Argenta style which refers to a softer color palette on an ivory ground and was popularized by Wedgwood in the 1870s. It was a shift from the typically bright hughes of Victorian ceramic wares and was a response to the ever changing tastes of the time where the deeper colors of earlier Majolica were starting to fall out of style. On the plate reverse, it’s marked with pattern# M2756 and impressed with “UPG” indicating the production date of 1878. The Fan pattern was introduced around 1878 and Wedgwood created approximately 90 styles/entries. Also included on its reverse is an impressed Diamond Registration mark which was part of the English pattern registration system that was in effect from 1842-1883. This registration mark was a degree of “copyright protection” to the designer of the piece and many companies took advantage of this system to protect their more original designs.

André Leon Talley (1948-2022) was one of the fashion world's first African-American Tastemakers. A towering 6’-6” tall, elegant, flamboyant, fashion icon and celebrity with impeccable style, known for his signature capes and kaftans. For six decades he was an integral part of fashion's history, as a journalist, author, stylist, creative director and editor-at-large.

His career started in 1974, when he apprenticed with legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. They created magic, on and off stage, sharing an extraordinary life of fashion and friendship. After the MET, he worked at Andy Warhol’s Factory, through Vreeland’s introduction. He was hired to answer the phone, which opened the door to New York City’s most glamorous socialites. Although private, he was part of Studio 54’s glamours scene in the 70s, disco dancing with models, fashion designers, artists, and celebrities. After Warhol’s Factory, at the young age of 27 he went to Paris to run Women’s Wear Daily, he also wrote for a few other publications prior to Vogue Magazine. He was Vogue's first African-American Creative Director, then Editor-at-Large. He broke boundaries in an industry dominated by white women. He was a prominent diversity advocate for Vogue, on and off the runway, supporting emerging designers and models.

He had style, good taste and southern charm, spoke French eloquently and loved his church, a very soulful person with a big heart. Raised in the (then) segregated deep south, by his strict, loving grandmother - who worked as a maid at Duke University. Going to church was the most important thing in their life. André’s childhood was wonderful and complex, despite impoverished beginnings, he earned a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina Central University and a master’s degree from Brown (both) in French Literature. From there, he went to New York, for a volunteer internship at the Costume Institute, where he apprenticed under Diana Vreeland. He met fashion icon Diane von Furstenberg early on while he was still interning at the MET. They became and stayed very, very good friends, like family until his death. When he was about to lose everything to pay debts, including being thrown out of his colonial home on 75 Worthington Road, White Plains, New York - Furstenberg lovingly, graciously took care of the situation for him. Almost immediately after that, he died in the hospital while under treatment for COVID. Ironically, less than a year later, the street on which he lived for eighteen years, the one he was nearly thrown out of - was renamed to "André Leon Talley Way" in his honor! It is this house that the items we acquired came from.

Diam: 6.5" x H: 1"

Price Upon Request

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