Charger. Artist: Merton Abbey Pottery Works. Designer: William De Morgan (British, London 1839-1917 London). Dimensions: Diameter: 20 1/4 x D. 2 5/8 in. (51.4 x 6.7 cm). Date: 1882-88.In 1869 de Morgan, a painter and stained-glass artist who designed tiles and glass for the William Morris firm, began decorating pottery; by 1873 he was running a highly successful pottery manufacture. He revived the medieval luster technique to decorate ceramics with an iridescent metallic surface, and from about 1875 favored "Persian" colors-pigments made from such metallic oxides as silver, which produces a brassy yellow, and copper, for a rich ruby red. These lusterwares were shown at the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.