soft paste porcelain
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Chelsea Red Anchor Porcelain Dish Mid-18th Century England 1752-1756
$1,140.00The wares of the Chelsea red anchor period (1752-1758), when this dish was made, are generally thought to be the finest work produced by the factory.*
The charm of this Chelsea soft paste porcelain dish lies in the quality of the soft paste porcelain itself, the warm white glaze, and the soft colors of the fabulous hand-painted flowers and insects. The flowers and insects are painted in exquisite soft colors, which seem to sink into the soft paste porcelain.
The painting is at the highest level of artistry. In the center, we see a loose bouquet of scattered flower sprigs, the largest sprig with a gorgeous purple rose, and a hairy caterpillar nearby. The border has crisp flowerhead and lattice molding reserving eight small panels painted with beautiful flowers and insects, one showing a butterfly and one a butterfly next to a ladybug. Along the rim, the dish has a brown line traditional to Chelsea.
Begun in 1743, the Chelsea porcelain factory was England’s first important porcelain manufacturer. The factory made soft paste porcelain which is different than “true” hard paste porcelain and does not require the high firing temperatures or the unique mineral ingredients needed for “true” hard paste porcelain. Soft paste originated in the attempts by European potters to replicate hard paste Chinese porcelain.
A dish decorated similar to ours and marked with the Chelsea red anchor is in the British Museum, accession number 1940,1101.70.Dimensions: 9.5″ wide (24cm)
Condition: Excellent
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Pair Sevres Porcelain Tureens with Feuille-de-Choux Pattern Borders 18th Century
$4,600.00The flowers are exquisite!
Sèvres has been called the essential French porcelain manufacturer. We are delighted to offer for sale this beautiful pair of Sèvres soft-paste porcelain tureens made 1773-1782. Decorated with delicate polychrome flowers, they are marked with the exclusive royal cipher in underglaze puce (a crowned interlaced ‘L’ mark), the painter’s mark for Michel-Louis Chauveaux (active 1773–82).
The painting on our pair of small tureens is exceptional. Note how the polychrome colors of the flowers sink into the white, soft-paste porcelain (see image #2). If one compares the painting on these tureens to the painting on French hard-paste porcelains from later in the 18th century, one sees that the colors on the hard-paste porcelains do not sink in but seem to rest on top of the porcelain.
Dimensions: 4 1/4″ x 9 1/2″ x 6″ tall Condition:
Excellent with some gilt expertly touched in on the unseen place at the top of each tureen where the cover sits (see images #5 and #7).
Price: $4,600
Background of Sevres Porcelain:
In 1751 Sèvres became the factory of the King of France, Louis XV.
The factory produced a lovely white soft-paste porcelain decorated with naturally painted flowers in various colors. Porcelains decorated in this style were essential to the Sèvres production, especially during the early years. Fine quality and elegant design made these porcelains highly sought after and expensive. Combinations of flowers, including roses, daisies, orange blossoms, violets, hyacinths from Holland, daffodils from Constantinople, and lilies of the valley, were all used to decorate Sèvres porcelains.
* See “les porcelainiers du XVIIIe siècle français” with a preface by Serge Gauthier
** See “French 18th century Porcelain at the Wadsworth Atheneum” by Linda Roth and Clare Le Corbeiller -
18th Century French Soft Paste Porcelain Mennecy Blush Pot Hand-Painted
$1,600.00We are pleased to offer this beautiful Mennecy blush pot ‘Pot à Fard’ made circa 1750.
It is decorated with sprays of flowers, the finial shaped as a single purple rose with green leaves.
The flowers are hand-painted in rich enamel colors, among them the distinctive Mennecy purple-rose hue, shown in figure #1, especially on the rose form finial. Another color associated with Mennecy is the most beautiful green found on the raised leaves of the rose finial and on the leaves surrounding the flowers.
This pot is particularly appealing because the painting of the flowers is so robust. Envisioning it in a woman’s toilette seems the epitome of femininity and Romanticism. In the 18th century, it would have been found on the vanity of an aristocratic lady, where it was primarily used to hold creams and lotions for the face.
The Mennecy Porcelain Manufactory was one of the first French porcelain factories. From 1735 until 1773, the factory produced Fine quality soft-paste porcelain wares. French soft-paste porcelains date to the early attempts by European potters to replicate Chinese porcelain by using mixtures of clay and glass frit. Like our pot, the body of the early Mennecy soft-paste wares has a creamy tone.
There was no gilding at Mennecy. Instead, like our pot, the rims were painted in tones of pink and purple.
The Mennecy, factory under the protection of the Duc de Villeroy, marked many of its porcelains with an incised “DV” on the underside.
Our pot is marked with an incised “DV”; however, an image of the “DV” mark does not have enough resolution to post here.Provenance: Estate of John F. Ball, Greenwich, CT.
Dimensions: 3.75″ tall x 3″ diameter
Condition: Excellent
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Pair French 18th Century Soft-Paste Porcelain Pots Made by Mennecy
$2,100.00Provenance: A New England Estate
Hand-painted in the 18th century circa 1765 these beautiful Mennecy Porcelain soft-paste pomade pots are rare. Pots like this held rich creams and lotions for the face. They would have been placed on the vanity of an aristocratic lady. Both the body and the cover have lovely spiral fluting and are decorated with flowers painted in exquisite enamel colors, especially the distinctive purple-rose hue seen on the body and the cover. Each cover is topped with a fabulous strawberry finial. The underside of both pots is marked with an incised “DV.”Dimensions. height 3.75 inches x diameter 2.35 inches
Condition: Excellent
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Antique English Soft Paste Porcelain Liverpool Coffee Pot 18th Century
$600.00We are pleased to offer this rare Liverpool soft-paste porcelain coffee pot made in England in the late 18th century, circa 1785. The pot is painted with a lovely chinoiserie scene on both sides of the body. In the scene, a lady stands in front of a blossoming plum tree. She offers a basket of sweets to two boys. The artisan skillfully integrated chinoiserie figures into the design to add exotic appeal in an era when China was still a distant land of mystery. Dimensions: 10.5″ tall x 8.5″ deep x 5″ wide
Condition: Very good with a single fine short hairline (see images).
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