Period & date: Early Victorian, circa 1840
Maker: Davenport
What sets this Davenport dessert plate apart is its pulsating border. A sense of movement is created from the illusion of two concentric ribbons being pulled in opposite directions. This dynamism contrasts with the stillness of the hand-painted central spray of summer flowers.
The rim is formed from moulded and gilt-edged acanthus. The lilac ribbons are trimmed in turquoise and along the top of the ribbons are chains of imitation turquoise cabuchons threaded with gilt bands.
DAVENPORT LONGPORT STAFFORDSHIRE is printed in puce on the reverse below a crown signifying royal patronage. Davenport’s dessert-ware pattern number, 638, is painted in puce, and tells us that the pattern was introduced around 1840. There is also a collector’s label.
CONDITION Excellent, almost perfect. Close inspection reveals some tiny areas of turquoise enamel rubbing near the central well and a few surface glaze abrasions.
The Staffordshire firm of Davenport operated for almost a century, from 1794, a year before the death of Josiah Wedgwood, to 1887, on the cusp of Art Nouveau. At its commercial apogee in the mid 1840s, Davenport was one of the largest potteries in the world, with four separate factories as well as a glassworks. Vast quantities of its products were exported worldwide, particularly earthenware. Davenport porcelain remained of good quality right up until the firm’s demise, which expert Terence Lockett blamed on ‘a failure of management, a decline in entrepreneurial expertise’ by the Davenport family.
Diameter: 22.7 cm
Weight: 442g
Medium: Bone china (porcelain)
Origin: Longport, Stoke-on-Trent, England
