About the Author

Charlotte Jacob-Hanson, independent ceramics researcher and author, was born in Evanston, Illinois, studied at the University of Arizona in Tucson (B.A. in Oriental Studies and English Literature, 1970) and in Marburg, Germany (1970-1971), later studying again at the U. of A. to receive her M.A. in T.E.S.O.L.* (1973).

She has lived most of her adult life in Germany, where she taught English for many years. Since 1991 she and her husband Friedhelm have lived near Frankfurt, where she founded a local ceramics study group in 1992. She has done ceramic research on the porcelain decorators, Louis Victor Gerverot and Fidelle Duvivier, written articles and lectured on these and other ceramic topics since 1996. (See also Lecture Abstracts).

Photo of Charlotte Jacob Hanson

Published research has appeared in Ars Ceramica, The Magazine ANTIQUES, the Transactions of the English Ceramic Circle, the Journal of The American Ceramic Circle, in the Dutch journal for ceramics and glass, Vormen uit Vuur, in the Northern Ceramic Society Newsletter, and the German periodical KERAMOS. She also helped translate into English the field reports on the excavations of the Dutch Loosdrecht porcelain manufactory for a publication (De Loosdrechtse Porseleinfabriek boven water, 2007).

In June, 2007 she spoke on “Fidelle Duvivier: New Attributions from the Netherlands” at the International Ceramics Fair and Seminar in London (a speech summary appeared in the 2008 ICFS Handbook).

In 2011-2012 she conducted research on a group of fifteen Giles-decorated Worcester plates with puce camaïeu decoration and their engraved sources, for which she was awarded a grant by the Cumming Ceramic Research Foundation, Toronto (published in the ACC Journal, 2013).

(Note: all of the articles mentioned can be viewed at the website www.academia.edu and www.researchgate.net – under her name).

Her first book, In the Footsteps of Fidelle Duvivier (2016), describes the artist’s decoration for the French Sceaux manufactory (with examples on Mennecy porcelain as well).

Charlotte’s other ceramic interests range from shipwreck porcelain to Pueblo Pottery of the Southwest. In 2019 she researched a group of Southwestern Pueblo pottery examples that were ordered in 1894 for the Keramikmuseum of the Villeroy & Boch company in Mettlach, Germany. Her article on the story of how these pieces came to Mettlach was published in 2021 in Ceramics in America.

The Ceramics Circle study group she founded in 1992 has been her main motivation for writing about ceramic topics seldom investigated in English.

She is continuing her research on Fidelle Duvivier and Louis Victor Gerverot for future publications.

* Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Articles by Charlotte Jacob-Hanson

“Englische Keramik in Wörlitz,” Ars Ceramica (Wedgwood Commemorative Exhibitions), Number 13, 1996, pp. 82-83.

“Johann Peter Melchior, Master Modeler,” The Magazine ANTIQUES, (Brant Publications, Inc. New York), September 1998, pp. 338-345.

“Maria Sibylla Merian, Artist-Naturalist,” The Magazine ANTIQUES, (Brant Publications, Inc. New York), August 2000, pp. 174-183.

“Louis Victor Gerverot in a new light,” The Magazine ANTIQUES, (Brant Publications, Inc. New York), January 2004, pp. 192-199.

“Fidelle Duvivier in France and the Netherlands,” The Magazine ANTIQUES, (Brant Publications, Inc. New York), January 2006, pp. 168-177.

“Further Findings on the Life and Career of Louis Victor Gerverot,” American Ceramic Circle Journal, Vol. XIV, (April 2007), pp. 50-75.

“Fidelle Duvivier: Tracing the Career of a Porcelain Painter,” Vormen uit Vuur, Nr. 199, 2007/4, pp. 37-45.

“Deux-viviers? A critical reappraisal of the Duvivier family,” Transactions of the English Ceramic Circle, vol. 19, part 3 (2007), pp. 477-483.

“New Attributions: Fidelle Duvivier in the Netherlands,” International Ceramic Fair and Seminar Handbook, June, 2008, pp. 19-27.

“War Louis Victor Gerverot in Fulda als Modelleur oder Maler tätig?” KERAMOS, 209, 2010, pp. 51-58.

“Louis Victor Gerverot – New Attributions” Vormen uit Vuur, Nr. 201, 2010/4, pp. 8-15. (Frankenthal, Weesp, Höchst, Loosdrecht).

“Charlotte Schreiber: The Unforgotten Grand Dame of the ‘Chasse’ ” (a retrospect on Lady Charlotte Schreiber’s 200th birthday), The Northern Ceramic Society Newsletter, No. 166, June 2012, pp. 50-61.

“A Giles Italianate Service: Fifteen Worcester Plates Reveal a Decorative Grand Tour,” American Ceramic Circle Journal, Vol. XVII, 2013, pp. 4-47.

“Fidelle Duvivier: the Painter and his World – Collected Memories,” The Northern Ceramic Society Newsletter, No. 184, December 2016, pp. 45-53.

“Louis Victor Gerverot – Before the Beaker,” The Northern Ceramic Society Newsletter, No. 188, December 2017, pp. 18-28.

“Spotted in England – Pronk’s Chinese Parasol Ladies,” The Northern Ceramic Society Newsletter, No. 192, December 2018, pp. 27-36,.

“A Fabled New Hall Cup Signed by Duvivier”, The Northern Ceramic Society Newsletter, No. 194, June 2019, pp. 30-33

“A Brief History of Villeroy & Boch and England’s Influence on its Success in the Years 1766-1900,” The Northern Ceramic Society Newsletter, No. 198, August 2020, pp. 40-47.

“Duvivier at Derby: the Clues and Secrets of a Chelsea-Derby Teapot,” The Northern Ceramic Society Newsletter, No. 199, December 2020, pp. 27-31.

“From Santa Fe to Mettlach: Pueblo Pottery and ‘Curiosities’ in the Villeroy and Boch Keramikmuseum, Ceramics in America (Chipstone Foundation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA), pp. 18-49.

“Caughley Services Painted by Duvivier for Chamberlain Worcester,” The Northern Ceramic Society Newsletter, No. 201, August 2021, pp. 38-46.

Louis Victor Gerverot: arcaniste et peintre d’oiseaux de fantasie,” L’or et la couleur dans la céramique en France, 1730-1790, (Actes du colloque 20-21 November 2021, Vottem, Belgium: SNEL Grafics SCI, 2021) Tome 1, pp. 235-243. The original English manuscript, “Louis Victor Gerverot: Arcanist and Painter of Birds of Fantasy,” was also uploaded with the French version and can be read at Academia.edu and ResearchGate.net.

“Fidelle Duvivier: sur les traces d’un décorateur itinérant,” L’or et la couleur dans la céramique en France, 1730-1790, (Actes du colloque 20-21 November 2021, Vottem, Belgium: SNEL Grafics SCI, 2021) Tome 1, pp. 224-234. The original English manuscript, “Fidelle Duvivier, in the Footsteps of an Itinerant Decorator,” was also uploaded with the French version and can be read at Academia.edu and ResearchGate.net.

“Duvivier’s Birds on Mennecy Porcelain in the V & A Museum,” The Northern Ceramic Society Newsletter, No. 205, December 2022, pp. 27-30.

(All of my articles can be read at the website www.academia.edu or www.researchgate.net under my name.)

Lectures by Charlotte Jacob-Hanson

August, 1998 – Keele University, Ceramics Seminar, Women and Ceramics – “Nampeyo and Maria Martinez, Two Pueblo Potters”

June 7, 2000 – Canterbury Ceramic Circle, Canterbury, England – “The Fürstenberg Porcelain Manufactory”

March 26, 2001 – Ima Hogg Ceramic Circle, Houston, Texas, USA – “Catherine the Great, Her European Services and State Gifts”

November 26, 2005 – English Ceramic Circle, London, England – “Deux-viviers? A critical reappraisal of the Duvivier family”

June 16, 2007 – International Ceramics Fair and Seminar, London – “New Attributions: Fidelle Duvivier in the Netherlands”

October 22, 2007 – Ima Hogg Ceramic Circle, Houston, Texas, USA – “Flights of Fantasy: the Bird Painting of Louis Victor Gerverot”

November 2, 2007 – American Ceramic Circle Symposium, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, USA – “Savoir faire, finesse and flair: the Bird Painting of Louis Victor Gerverot”

September 17, 2008 – Mid-State Ceramic Study Group, Detroit, Michigan – “Flights of Fantasy: the Bird Painting of Louis Victor Gerverot”

November 21, 2010 – San Francisco Ceramic Circle – “New Attributions – Fidelle Duvivier in the Netherlands”

March 23, 2014 – San Francisco Ceramic Circle – “A Giles Italianate Service: Fifteen Worcester Plates Reveal a Decorative Grand Tour”

January 15, 2015 – BRIDFAS Hamburg, Germany (British Decorative and Fine Arts Society of Hamburg e.V.) – “Flights of Fantasy: the Bird Painting of Louis Victor Gerverot”

September 16, 2015 – English Ceramic Circle/French Porcelain Society (held at Bonhams, Knightsbridge, London) – “Fidelle Duvivier – New Clues from France”

March 27, 2016 – San Francisco Ceramic Circle – “In the Footsteps of Fidelle Duvivier – the French Connection”

September 13, 2016 – Stichting Hollands Porselein, Amsterdam, Auction House AAG, Lekstraat 63, Amsterdam, the Netherlands – “Fidelle Duvivier: Inspired Eye, Gifted Hand”

September 29, 2017 – Symposium, Kasteel – Museum Sypesteyn, Nieuw Loosdrecht, the Netherlands – “Fidelle Duvivier: Inspired Eye, Gifted Hand”

January 27, 2018 – Northern Ceramic Society Winter Weekend, Manchester, England – Ceramic Experimenters and Innovators – “Fidelle Duvivier: A Painter in a New Style. How twelve pieces of English Porcelain helped identify his work prior to 1785”

March 17, 2019 — San Francisco Ceramic Circle — “Flights of Fantasy: the Bird Painting of Louis Victor Gerverot”

January 27, 2022 — Ceramics Study Group of Boston — “Fidelle Duvivier: Inspired Eye, Gifted Hand” (Zoom lecture)

February 24, 2022 — English Ceramic Circle, London — “A Giles Italianate Service: Fifteen Worcester Plates Reveal a Decorative Grand Tour”

See Lecture Abstracts below describing my powerpoint presentations

To inquire about availability for a speaking engagement...

Lecture Abstracts: Charlotte Jacob-Hanson

Three New Hall pieces: milk jug, covered sugar bowl, and saucer detail

“Fidelle Duvivier: How twelve pieces of English Porcelain helped identify his work prior to 1785” (50 min.)

For many years the ceramics decorator, Fidelle Duvivier, has been best known for the landscape vignettes and figural scenes he painted mainly on English New Hall porcelain in the late 1780s. This lecture explains how his English work helped to identify earlier decoration done on the Continent, and features many new discoveries, including examples done for the Sceaux manufactory near Paris (c. 1766-68/c. 1775), and in the Nether-lands (for Loosdrecht and the Lyncker family of The Hague, c. 1780-84). Similarly, it illustrates how the work done in France and the Netherlands influenced his later style in England.

Duvivier-decorated Loosdrecht bowl

“New attributions – Fidelle Duvivier in the Netherlands” (50 min.)

Born in Tournai, this widely-traveled decorator is best known for the landscape vignettes and figural scenes he painted mainly on New Hall porcelain in the late 1780s. This lecture looks at newly discovered and attributed pieces dating to c. 1780-84, when Duvivier was working in the Netherlands for Joannes de Mol at Loosdrecht and the Lyncker family of The Hague. The historical background of the 18th-century porcelain manufactory at Loosdrecht as well as the (controversial) decorating establishment in The Hague will be discussed – with newer details not mentioned in standard porcelain literature. The Loosdrecht manufactory was excavated in 2000-2005, and the field reports published in 2007. The remarkable examples of Fidelle Duvivier’s painted decoration, found mainly in Dutch private and public collections, will be compared to his later work in Staffordshire.

Detail of a Gerverot-decorated Höchst saucer

“Flights of Fantasy – the bird painting of Louis Victor Gerverot” (50 min.)

After learning his first skills as an apprenticed porcelain painter at Sèvres, the young Gerverot left France in 1766 for Germany and began a long career that took him to numerous manufactories. Some of them, e.g. Kassel, Fürstenberg and Frankenthal, briefly employed him as a bird-painter. Although not mentioned in surviving Frankenthal documents, Gerverot’s stay there must have been long enough for him to paint several important service pieces, as evidenced by work that has come to light in past years. By 1769 in Weesp (Netherlands), he was also employed as the manufactory’s color chemist during the last two years of production. While at Weesp his own highly unconventional style of bird painting began to evolve, one which was far removed from French traditional or any other style of the day. Returning to Germany, Gerverot entered his most creative and prolific period at Höchst (ca. 1771-1773), painting tea and coffee services plus other tablewares for this manufactory. A few rare specimens of his later bird painting, done primarily for the Dutch manufactory in Loosdrecht (1775-1779), have only recently been discovered (or found near the excavated site of the manuactory), and these will be featured in this talk as well. A comparison of Gerverot’s Dutch and German work, side by side, furnishes visual evidence of his extraordinary talent and techniques, while bringing to light important characteristics by which his hand can be identified.

Worcester 'Grubbe' plate and print source (V & A Museum, London)

“A Giles Italianate Service: Fifteen Worcester Plates Reveal a Decorative Grand Tour” (55 min.)

A discussion of fifteen Worcester plates decorated in puce camaieu at the London workshop of James Giles. In 1935 one of these plates was given to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Mrs. Dora Grubbe. Three of the fifteen plates featured are in U.S. collections (Seattle Art Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Colonial Williamsburg Foundation), the remainder are either in British museums or private collections. With a grant from the Cumming Ceramic Research Foundation (2011) C. Jacob-Hanson researched and discovered the print sources for the majority of these plates, writing up her findings, which were published in The American Ceramic Circle Journal (2013). This talk will relate the hunt for the identified print sources, show related Worcester and other similarly decorated pieces, and explore the possible intentions behind the creation of this unique “Italianate” service, one which has an unprecedented place in the history of Worcester porcelain decoration.

Duvivier-decorated Sceaux faience plate

“In the Footsteps of Fidelle Duvivier – the French Connection” (50 min.)

Charlotte Jacob-Hanson, an independent researcher, has devoted more than ten years to researching the life and career of Fidelle Duvivier and looking for further examples of his work in the Netherlands, France and England. He is one of the most interesting international ceramics decorators of the 18th century. This lecture presents new findings regarding Duvivier’s employment at Sceaux, one of France’s most successful manufactories, as well as highlighting its general production history. The presentation will also compare the newly found French examples to some of Duvivier’s work in the Netherlands and England.

Detail of a Duvivier-decorated Loosdrecht plate (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)

“Fidelle Duvivier – Inspired Eye, Gifted Hand” (50 min.)

For many years the Tournai-born ceramics decorator, Fidelle Duvivier, was best known for the landscape vignettes and figural scenes he painted mainly on English New Hall porcelain in the late 1780s. This lecture looks at the newest discoveries regarding his career, including some of his work for the Sceaux manufactory near Paris, c. 1766-68 and again c. 1775, as well as work done in England c. 1769-73 (including Derby). Of special interest are the numerous examples dating to 1780-84, when Duvivier was working in the Netherlands for Joannes de Mol at Loosdrecht and also decorated several pieces for the Lyncker family of The Hague. The remarkable examples of Fidelle Duvivier’s painted decoration from France and the Netherlands will be compared to his later work in Staffordshire.