This is a wonderful "true trio" made by the Derby Porcelain factory between 1800 and 1810. The trio is decorated in an overglaze green ground with cheerful red flowers.
In the late 18th and early 19th Century cups and saucers were sold as trios of a teacup and coffee cup sharing one saucer - as you would never drink tea and coffee at the same time, why invest in an extra saucer?
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.
This set is nicely potted; the teacup has a straight bucket shape and the coffee cup is a coffee can; coffee cups only came into fashion a little later. The handles are square and flat "French" handles.
This set must have been owned by a coffee drinker, as the coffee cup handle and rim have a lot more wear than the teacup; you can see how the gilt consisted of red pigment mixed with gilt as there is a pink residue. It is also possible that the coffee can simply wasn't fired as well so the gilt may have worn off more easily.
The set is marked with the red crowned hand painted Derby mark.
CONDITION REPORT The set is in very good antique condition without any damage, crazing or repairs, but it has wear, as 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 (diameters) teacup 9.2cm (3.6), coffee can 6.5cm (2.5"); saucer 14.2cm (5.5").
Derby true trio, green with red flowers, 1800-1810
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