This is a rare and beautiful full dessert service made by Coalport around the year 1820. The service consists of a large footed comport or tazza, two lidded sauce tureens on stands, four rectangular dishes, four oval dishes, four shell dishes and twelve plates.
 
Coalport was one of the leading potters in 19th and 20th Century Staffordshire. They worked alongside other great potters such as Spode, Davenport and Minton, and came out with many innovative designs. When we say "Coalport" we usually think of the one Coalport factory that became famous, but in its beginning years there were two factories, one run by John Rose and the other by his brother Thomas Rose. Thomas Rose went into partnership with Robert Anstice and Robert Horton and they were located directly opposite John Rose, across the canal. The brothers' factories had much in common with each other and they shared many different shapes and patterns. Ultimately, the John Rose factory proved more profitable and John Rose bought Thomas' factory in 1814, making it the one Coalport factory that became so famous. Many of the Coalport items, of either factory, are now collectors' items.
 
This service is beautifully potted in heavy white bone china with very gracious shapes that were difficult to fire and therefore would have made it an expensive service. The shape has many wonderful details: the four-pronged feet of the comports, the gadrooned rims, the intricately worked dish handles and of course the stunning ram's heads under the handles of the sauce tureens. The decoration consists of bands of playful purple vines and elaborate gilding on the complex shapes; this same pattern was used by Barr Flight & Barr in Worcester. The simplicity of the decoration enhances the beauty of the intricate shapes of the items.
 
Each item is marked on the underside with two impressed "2" marks, as used between 1815 and 1825. The style of the service from around 1820.
 
CONDITION REPORT The service is in good usable condition, but all items have crazing and some wear, and there is some minor damage as follows: the large comport has one crack and several hairlines, however it is stable and good for use; the two sauce comports each have old staple repairs on the foot that are entirely stable, one ram's head horn is missing and one cover has a crack and the other has a chip off the finial; of the rectangular dishes one has a crack; of the shell dishes one has a crack with chip; of the oval dishes one has a broken off footrim and one has a few hairline cracks through the middle; of the plates five have little or no crazing, ten have heavy crazing (but some still ring true when tapped), one has a chip off the underside of the rim and one has a very slight crack through the middle (but is stable). I have detailed pictures of the various damages, please ask if you'd like to see them.
 
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 38cm X 21.5cm (15" X 8.5") and stands 24.5cm (9.75") high; sauce comports 23cm X 18cm (9" X 7") incl. stands and 19cm (7.5") high incl. stand and cover; rectangular dishes 33cm X 22cm (13" X 8.75") and 5cm (2") high; oval dishes 33cm X 14.5cm (13" X 5.75") and 5cm (2") high; shell dishes 27.5cm X 24cm (10.75" X 9.5") and 5cm (2") high; plates 24.5cm (9.75") diameter.