Collection of Four Antique English Salt Glazed Stoneware Dishes, circa 1765
$2,500.00
THE TWO OVALS ARE SOLD. THE PRICE FOR THE CHARGER AND THE LARGE PLATE IS $ 1,900. Contact admin@bardith.com for an invoice.
Taken together, these four salt-glazed pieces, including the large charger, exceptional plate, and smaller pierced serving dishes, all with impressed designs, reflect the closely related patterns produced in mid-18th-century England and soon after used on tables in colonial America.
This group is anchored by the large charger, press-molded in a well-defined cartouche and diaper pattern.
The design is concentrated within the wide border, where alternating lattice panels and rococo scrollwork encircle a broad, plain well.
The modeling is crisp and controlled, and the pale body reflects the recent refinement achieved through the use of Devonshire clay combined with calcinated flint. The result is a cleaner, whiter surface that responds well to light.
Chargers of this type were produced for both domestic use and export, and fragments of similar patterns have been recovered at Colonial Williamsburg, confirming their presence on 18th-century American tables.
The large plate in the group is the same model illustrated in George Washington’s Chinaware by Susan Gray Detweiler, in which salt glaze fragments excavated at Mount Vernon document this basket-and-star-diaper pattern as part of Washington’s tableware.
This is a direct form match. Washington’s instruction to his supplier, “Pray let them be neat and fashionable or send none,” reflects the taste that guided the selection of such wares.
The pair of oval dishes follows the same decorative vocabulary but introduces pierced panels within the border.
The piercing lightens the form while maintaining the underlying geometric structure.
These smaller serving forms correspond to wares imported into Virginia, including shipments supplied to Washington by the Bristol merchant Thomas Knox in 1757.
Excavated examples of related patterns in Williamsburg confirm their widespread use.
Together, the four pieces hold closely to the same decorative vocabulary while varying in scale. The plate provides a documented link to Mount Vernon, the charger carries the design at a larger scale, and the pierced ovals introduce a lighter variation that completes the group.
Dimensions: Charger 16.5 inches diameter; Plate 12.25 inches diameter; Ovals 7.25 inches long
Condition: Excellent, with minor original firing anomalies typical of 18th-century production
Decoration: Press-molded cartouche, basket, and diaper patterns with rococo elements, pierced borders on ovals
Material: English salt-glazed stoneware
Style: Rococo
Origin: England
Date: circa 1765
Out of stock
