Date: circa 1820
Period: Regency
Maker: Coalport Porcelain Works (John Rose & Co.)
The gorgeous painting and lavish gilding of this Coalport coffee cup and saucer demand attention. The summer flowers are bright and fresh and thoroughly English in style. The naturalistic painting contrasts with the formal symmetry of the gilding.
The cup and saucer are shown in colour plate 10 on page 19 of Michael Messenger’s Coalport book [i]. The cup shape is called ‘Etruscan’, a fashion influenced by archaeological finds. ‘Etruscan’ cup handles are almost always angular or serpent-shaped. Coalport’s serpent, unlike Spode’s, has a flat tail with no spiral. The bulbous profile is also completely different to that of Spode or Daniel Etruscan cups.
Condition: Very good. Minor gilt rubbing to the saucer rim and the band around the central well.
Cup height, including handle 8.5 cm; rim diameter 7.7 cm; width, incl. handle 8.9 cm
Saucer diameter 14.3 cm
Weight: 226 g
Medium: Bone china (porcelain)
Origin: Coalport, Shropshire, England
See Coalport (John Rose) in Makers & Artists for background on the factory.
[i] Michael Messenger, Coalport 1795-1926 (Antique Collectors’ Club, 1995)
