This is a stunning dessert service made by Chamberlains Worcester in about 1822. The service consists of a high comport, 2 square dishes, 1 kidney shaped dish, 3 shell dishes, one sauce comport with cover, and twelve square plates.
The Chamberlain factory was founded in the 1780s by Robert Chamberlain, who was responsible for the decoration department in the famous Worcester pottery during the Dr Wall period. He set up his own factory with his son Humphrey, initially buying up stock from Turner's Caughley factory for decoration, but then around 1794 starting to produce their own porcelain. By the year 1800 they had built up a strong reputation, producing wonderful tea and dinner ware for the British and European nobility and becoming a mighty competitor of both the Worcester/Flight & Barr and Grainger factories. In the 1840s the factory merged back with Worcester, which later also bought Grainger and was formed into the later Royal Worcester.
This service is of extremely high quality with sublimely hand painted flowers. It is rare to find such a large service without damage. The service has beautiful gadrooned rims with little shell details and the dishes have spectacular shapes, particularly the shell shaped dishes; the sauce tureen has adorable strawberries moulded into its handles.
A picture of exactly the same service can be found in plate 184 in Geoffrey A. Godden's book "Chamberlain-Worcester Porcelain 1788-1852". This service first appeared in order books in 1822.
CONDITION REPORT The service is in excellent condition without any damage or repairs. Its only flaw is that 6 plates, one square dish, the kidney shaped dish and the upper rim of the sauce tureen (not the tureen itself) have some crazing. Apart from one plate that is a little darker, there is no discolouration.
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 large comport 34 X 20.5 X 13.5cm (13.4" X 8" X 5.25"); sauce tureen 18 X 16.5 X 17cm (7" X 6.5" X 6.75"); square dishes 21 X 21cm (9" X 9"); kidney shaped dish 19 X 16.2cm (7.5" X 6.4"); shell dishes 21.5 X 15.5cm (8.5" X 6.15"); plates 22 X 22cm (8.6" X 8.6").
