Period: Regency
Maker: Coalport Porcelain Works (John Rose & Co.)
The splendid Coalport backstop on this sarcophagus-shape sucrier or sugar box carries an interesting story.
It trumpets a gold medal given to John Rose, Coalport’s founding owner, by the Society of Arts on 30th May, 1820. The award was for Rose’s contribution in helping stamp out the scourge of lead poisoning in the ceramics industry, by developing a leadless felspathic glaze. Rose also added felspar to the body, and the backstamp refers to ‘Coalport Felt Spar Porcelain,’ omitting to mention that the medal was only for the glaze.
The extent to which Rose deserved credit for the felspar breakthrough is open to question. Mining engineer Thomas Ryan had discovered large deposits of felspar on the border of Shropshire and Wales in 1818 and first suggested felspar’s manufacturing application to Rose.
From 1821, Spode also began making porcelain containing Ryan’s felspar, sometimes with a backstamp that shamelessly copied the ‘Society of Arts’ mark of Coalport. Minton and Ridgway were among other large factories that also took advantage of felspar’s remarkable properties. Leonard Whiter wrote that felspar was “responsible for a very marked improvement in the quality of both the body and the glaze of the china made with it.”
We bought this sucrier at auction in January 2011. Inside the lid is a label for the previous owner who resided at a smart Chelsea address. It is almost undecorated apart from the gilding and chains of little blue dots. One attractive feature that could easily escape notice are the acanthus leaves formed in the white on the gilded terminals of the handles.
CONDITION Very good. No damage or restoration. Minor gilt rubbing to handles and tip of finial.
Height: 11.5 cm; across handles: 16.2 cm; width/depth: 10.5 cm
Weight: 510 g
Medium: Felspar porcelain
Origin: Coalport, Shropshire, England
For background on the factory, see Coalport Porcelain Works (John Rose & Co.) in Makers & Artists
