This is an spectacular and very rare 27-piece dessert service made by Chamberlain's in Worcester around 1795. The service is decorated with the famous "Kylin" or "Dragons in Compartments" pattern, and consists of a round footed centre piece, two one-handled sauce tureens with covers, four shell dishes, 2 bowls of different shape (one waited, one smooth), 8 large plates and 8 smaller plates.
Robert Chamberlain started out working at the famous Worcester Porcelain Company in the 18th Century. He started his own porcelain company in 1791, initially mainly decorating other factories' blanks, but then increasingly producing his own distinctive hard-paste porcelain. The company became very successful, and eventually merged back with the Worcester (then called Barr & Flight) factory in 1840.
This set is potted in the beautiful light, greyish hard paste porcelain that Chamberlain used before they adopted bone china. The shapes of some of the itmes is rare; this type of open, round centre piece and the one-handled sauce tureen is unusual. One of the bowls is waisted, while the other is not. All this adds to the charm of the service.
This gloriously colourful and intriguing pattern is called "Kylin" or "Dragons in Compartments" and it is one of the classic patterns of this era. You can see two different dragons on it, as well as some beautiful flower arrangements. It was first designed by the Worcester Porcelain Company in about 1770, in imitation of a Chinese or Japanese pattern. Chamberlains Worcester later took this pattern and kept producing it for many years.
Some of the items are marked with the pattern number 75.
CONDITION REPORT The service is generally in good condition and all pieces are fine to use. One sauce tureen cover has been extensively stapled; one shell dish has a 2" crack coming off the rim; one bowl has a star crack in the bottom and the other has a chip off the rim; some overall wear with the small plates more worn than the larger plates.
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 to be added, please feel free to ask
