Arthur Osborne (1854-1942) English/American, Ivorex Wall Plaque. Depicts Mr. Pickwick addressing members of the Pickwick Club, celebrated in Charles Dickens' first novel, "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club." Description written in bottom of plaque, with the phrase "The proudest moment of his existence." Signed (AO) discreetly bottom left in image. 

Overall: 25 1/2 X 19 in. 

Sight: 20 1/2 X 14 in. 

#3852 . 

Arthur Osborne was born in 1854 in Ospringe, a small village near Faversham, Kent, England. He emigrated to the United States in 1878 and began working as a designer at the J. & J.G. Low Art Tile Works in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Within a year he was the chief designer and modeler for the company, developing a specialized line of products called "plastic sketches," low relief sculptural tiles intended to be framed and hung like oil paintings. They were inspired by various cultures, the natural world, and mythology, and the versatility of the carving process led him through a spectrum of subjects and stylistic variations. His images were of portraits, animals, birds, and classical, genre, and bucolic studies, each of them signed with "AO" on the face of the tile. They won much acclaim for their artistry, including a Gold Medal from the Royal Academy in 1885, the first time an American entry had beaten all the English entries at the exhibition at Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent. In 1898 Osborne left the Low company to return to England and start his own business in Faversham, where he designed and produced his own "lvorex" plaques for many years until his death in 1942. He would carve a master plaque, then make a mold and used it to create plaster-of-Paris plaques. These were air-dried, then-hand painted, then dipped in wax. A brass ring was added so the plaque could be hung with a cord. Each plaque has his name and the copyright symbol as part of the molded design, with over 45,000 made in one year at the height of their popularity. When Osborne died his daughter Blanche kept the company going until it closed during an economic downturn in 1965, but it was bought in 1971 by W.H. Bossons, who made the identical plaques while removing the original AO mark. The company closed for good in 1997, and the Ivorex plaques are still sought after for their uniqueness and their high quality and durability.