Collection Of George Iii Terracotta Tablets By Jonathan Harmer

An extremely rare set of four, late George III terracotta Neoclassical tablets by Jonathan Harmer, stone mason, potter and surveyor of Heathfield, Sussex. Comprising of a rams head urn, finial for the urn but not original to this one, three oval tablets, two depicting flower baskets and one a depiction of charity. All in good order, one repaired, three are stamped 'Harmer Fecit'.

Jonathan Harmer (1762-1849)

Jonathan Harmer took over the family business in 1800 after the death of his father. He was a stone mason, potter and surveyor, producing memorials in his local area of Heathfield in Sussex. Unusually he embellished these headstones with terracotta tablets, sculpted and fired by himself at home. Made by pressing local clay into moulds that he had worked, once out of the moulds they would be hand finished, stamped and then fired in their own wood burning oven. Due to the nature of this production some have natural faults, twists and losses, as in the Charity tablet listed here, the colour also varying due to clay and firing temperature variation

You can find more about the history of the life of Jonathan Harmer on the V & A website link below, including examples of his work.

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O313304/charity-relief-harmer-jonathan/

Urn H 9" x W 8 1/2" x D 2"

Basket tablets H 6 1/2" x W 10 1/4" x D2"

Charity tablet H 6 1/2" x W 9" x D 1 1/2"

Finial H 3 1/2" x W 4" x D 1 1/2"