This is a stunning and extremely rare kidney shaped serving dish made by Derby between about 1813 and 1815. The dish is painted with bright red and blue flowers by William Quaker Pegg, one of the most celebrated painters at Derby. The names of the flowers are neatly written in longhand on the back: "Scarlet Lychnis & Gentianella".
This dish would have belonged to a large dessert service, each piece of which would have a unique flower with the name written on the underside of the item.
The Derby Porcelain factory has its roots in the late 1740s, when Andrew Planché, a Walloon Huguenot refugee, started making simple porcelain toys shaped like animals in his back yard. In 1756 Staffordshire enameller William Duysbury and banker John Heath started a new porcelain factory with Planché and this was to grow out to the largest factory of its time, buying up the bankrupted Chelsea and Bow factories, as well as the stock of several other workshops including that of James Giles. The combination of various traditions, porcelain making skills and sophisticated clients enabled Duesbury to create one of the best porcelain factories of the 18th and 19th Centuries, which after many ups and downs is still operative today.
The plate is marked in red with the mark consisting Derby crown, crossed batons and a "D".
DOCUMENTATION: Several items of the same pattern (but different flowers) are shown on page 268 of "Derby Porcelain" by John Twitchett; more similar items in Quaker's hand are shown on page 93 of "Derby Porcelain 1748-1848 An Illustrated Guide" by John Twitchett.
CONDITION REPORT The dish is in excellent antique condition without any damage, repairs or crazing, and only some light 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: 25.5 X 19.5cm (10" X 7.75"); 4cm (1.5") high.
