Art period: Edwardian
Maker: Cauldon (Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co.) Ltd.
A smart and tasteful Cauldon part tea set, in pristine condition, comprising six cups and saucers, six tea plates, a twin-handled sandwich plate, a creamer/milk jug and sugar bowl. The borders are formally decorated in gilt with stylised acanthus fronds, flower heads and palmettes, together with dark blue reserves.
The cups and sugar bowl have an unusually waisted, hourglass shape that Cauldon called ‘Chinese’ but this was a fanciful misnomer, as no such Chinese shape exists. Instead, we believe the shape was originally influenced by traditional Japanese hand drums called tsuzumi. (We have some early George Jones eggshell porcelain cups from the 1870s with similar hourglass profile but Japanese-style decoration.)
The creamer/milk jug has a sleek and stylish shape and the handle of the jug and the cups are elegantly coiled.
Each piece carries the green backstamp for Cauldon China and a hand-painted pattern number, T3091. Cauldon China was a simplified trading name for the firm Cauldon (Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co.) Ltd. which operated for s short period between 1904 and 1920 at the Cauldon Place works established by Job Ridgway in 1802. ‘Est 1774’ was a spurious claim, as there is no evidence of an earlier factory on the site. The date may refer to Job’s father Ralph Ridgway, also a potter. The plates and saucers also have impressed date codes for individual manufacture between 1908 and 1912.
CONDITION Pristine.
Sandwich plate 27.5 cm x 21.4 cm
Creamer/milk jug Height: 7.8 cm; Width, spout across handle: 11.3 cm
Sugar bowl Diameter: 11.8 cm; Height: 6.5 cm
Cups Height: 5.8 cm; Diameter: 7.1; Width across handle: 9 cm
Saucers Diameter 14 cm
Tea plates Diameter: 16.7 cm
Total net weight 3,228 g
Medium: Bone china (porcelain)
Origin: Cauldon Plave, Shelton, Hanley, Staffordshire Potteries, England
For background on the factory, see Brown-Westhead, Moore & Cauldon in Makers & Artists
