The Worcester “Dead Game” Grubbe plate and its engraved source
This unusual Worcester plate was one of the four so-called “Grubbe plates” given to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1935 by Mrs. Dora Edgell Grubbe in memory of her husband, Walter John Grubbe(i). He was a direct descendant of James Giles, the London china retailer and owner of the leading decorating establishment, whose employees decorated a great quantity of Worcester porcelain between 1767 and 1776. Fidelle Duvivier appears to have worked for Giles as an independent decorator either prior to or during the same period that he was employed by William Duesbury of Derby (1769-1773?). With its very French-looking decoration this plate has been tentatively attributed to Duvivier in the past, but just where the decoration comes from and how it fits in place as a piece of Duvivier’s story are explained in my book.(ii)