In this intimate portrait painted at the home he shared with the artist, his wife Evelyn De Morgan, he clutches at his lustreware vase, the pinnacle of his long career in ceramics. Prior to this, he trained as a fine artist at the Royal Academy School and worked for a decade in stained glass, alongside his good friend William Morris.

The potteries were based in Chelsea, then Merton Abbey, and finally at Sands End in Fulham. Over the course of three decades De Morgan perfected his ceramics, particularly his iridescent lustre, which reflects the metallic particles from the glaze.

Behind De Morgan’s shoulder is a shelf of his own books, Joseph Vance, published in 1906, being the first novel De Morgan wrote following the closure of his pottery business in 1904. These were a phenomenal success in the UK and America, affording him and Evelyn a comfortable retirement.