This is an incredibly charming dessert service made by Machin around 1820, which is known as the Regency period. The service has the famous "moustache" shape, a simple white ground without any gilt, and beautiful hand painted birds. The service consists of a large central comport, a sauce tureen with cover and attached stand, an oval dish, two square dishes, three shell dishes and 9 plates.
This service has wear and is therefore sold As Found (A/F), which is reflected in the price.
Previously it was thought that this style was made by Ridgway - a reference by Geoffrey A. Godden, the famous porcelain expert, in his well-known book "Ridgway Porcelains" widely broadcasted this very reasonable assumption. However, recent research has shown that this design was more often made by Machin, a smaller maker that was equally skilled at producing beautiful porcelain dessert services. Another option is that it was made by Hicks & Meigh, a contemporary of Machin that made many very similar designs.
Machin & Co was one of the many potteries in Staffordshire such as Spode, Coalport, H&R Daniel and many others during the 1820s and 1830s. They were in operation between 1812 and 1830 and made very high quality porcelain. As this was not a very long period, their wares are now quite rare and very desired among collectors.
The moustache shape was a popular shape in the 1820s and you can see the moustaches moulded into the edges. This whole service is in simple white without any gilt; this may have been to save costs, or perhaps it was made for a "Puritan" family of a strict Christian belief that you should not eat off gilded tableware. The birds, however, were painted by a very skilled artist and are beautiful.
The service is unmarked except the pattern number 721, which appears on the underside of some of the items.
CONDITION REPORT The service is in fair but fully usable condition with some faults that are reflected in the price. There is crazing on many items with a few free from crazing, and there is wear on most items as visible in the pictures. The sauce tureen has some discolouring and a crack through base and off the rim of the tureen; the oval dish has a big crack and some old chips that might be from production; of the plates, one has the bird completely worn off; some are worn and crazed but some are in perfect condition.
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 11.5cm (4.5") high and 30.5cm X 21.5cm (11.5" X 8.5"); sauce tureen 20.5cm (8") high incl. finial and 21.5cm X 15cm (8.5" X 6"); oval dish 28cm X 22cm (11" X 8.75"); square dishes 25cm (10") diameter; shell dishes 23cm X 21.5cm (9" X 8.5"); plates 19cm (7.5") diameter.
Machin dessert service, moustache shape with birds, ca 1820
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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!
