This is a teacup, saucer and plate made by the Herculaneum pottery in Liverpool between about 1800 and 1815.
The Herculaneum pottery was founded by Samuel Worthington in Liverpool and operated between 1797 and 1841. It produced very high quality and well designed creamware, pearlware and porcelain. The pottery relied on an excellent workforce imported from Staffordshire, which explains how it was able to produce top quality items in a relatively short period. The name of the factory was inspired by the recent excavations in Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the pottery obviously competed with the newly opened "Etruria" kiln owned by Wedgwood.
This set is made in very early porcelain. You can tell from the greyish colour that this is still hybrid hard paste porcelain, which was used prior to the standardisation of bone china, which is whiter. The cup is shaped in the "bute" shape, which was prevalent at the time. The decoration consists of a bold Regency-style pattern of Royal blue details set in rich gilt with little green and red details. These abstract geometric patterns were very popular at the time and were clearly inspired by the Greek, Roman and Etruscan artefacts that were being excavated at the time in Southern Europe.
CONDITION REPORT The items are in excellent condition without any damage, repairs or crazing; there is light wear as visible in the pictures.
Antique British porcelain is never perfect. Kilns were fired on coal in the 1800s and early 1900s, 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 9cm (3.5"); saucer 14cm (5.5"); dish 18.5cm (7.6").
Herculaneum teacup trio, blue and gilt Regency pattern, 1800-1815
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We always aim to have happy customers so if you have an issue with or questions about your item, please contact us and we will do anything we can to resolve the issue with you!
