On offer is an extremely rare teacup and saucer made by Barr Flight & Barr in about 1810. The set has a beautifully soft salmon ground colour, an elegant gilt border motif with foliage, and superbly painted monochrome sepia landscape panels, all in the Neoclassical taste. The cup has a mountain landscape with two figures looking out over the valley, and the saucer has a lakeside landscape with sailing boats in the water and a fishing boat with three fishermen on the shore.
Barr Flight & Barr was the continuation of the famous Worcester Porcelain Company. In fact the factory went through various partnerships and names, most of which involved either the name Barr, Flight, or both (or double!). This confusing period in the factory's existence is often summarised as the "Flight & Barr" period. Eventually the factory absorbed some of its spin-offs and was turned into the Royal Worcester, which became very famous in the late 19th and 20th Centuries. During the late 18th and entire 19th Century they were among the leaders of china production, producing exceptionally finely painted and sculpted forms.
Martin Barr was the innovator who brought a high standard of artistry and various shades of orange and salmon to the factory; these colours were difficult to fire and became fashionable very quickly.
Both cup and saucer are marked with impressed BFB marks, and the saucer is also marked with the brown printed London House, Coventry Street mark.
Documentation: a very similar image of the mountain in the landscape on the cup can be found on one of the plates of a dessert service in plate 60 on page 77 of Henry Sandon's "Flight and Barr Worcester Porcelain 1783-1840". It is likely that this teacup set was painted by the same painter.
CONDITION REPORT Both cup and saucer are in very good condition without any damage, repairs or crazing, but they have some wear as clearly visible in the pictures.
Antique British porcelain is never perfect. Kilns were fired on coal in the 1800s, and this meant that china from that period can have some firing specks from flying particles. British makers were also known for their experimentation, and sometimes this resulted in technically imperfect results. Due to the shrinkage in the kiln, items can have small firing lines or develop crazing over time, which should not be seen as damage but as an imperfection of the maker's recipes, probably unknown at the time of making. Items have often been used for many years and can have normal signs of wear, and gilt can have signs of slight disintegration even if never handled. I will reflect any damage, repairs, obvious stress marks, crazing or heavy wear in the item description but some minor scratches, nicks, stains and gilt disintegration can be normal for vintage items and need to be taken into account.
There is widespread confusion on the internet about the difference between chips and nicks, or hairlines and cracks. I will reflect any damage as truthfully as I can, i.e. a nick is a tiny bit of damage smaller than 1mm and a chip is something you can easily see with the eye; a glazing line is a break in the glazing only; hairline is extremely tight and/or superficial and not picked up by the finger; and a crack is obvious both to the eye and the finger. Etcetera - I try to be as accurate as I can and please feel free to ask questions or request more detailed pictures!
DIMENSIONS teacup 8.2cm (3.25"); saucer 14.2cm (5.6").
