This is beautiful tea service consisting of a teapot with cover, a plate, a slop bowl, four teacups on saucers and four coffee cups on saucers. The service was made by the Yates factory in about 1825. The set is decorated with the famous pattern 1038 in underglaze deep cobalt blue with finely hand painted flower reserves and rich gilding including a characteristic "shark teeth" pattern.
It is quite rare to have a tea service like this with teacups and coffee cups each having a saucer, rather than "true trios" where the cups share a saucer.
The Yates factory was operative between 1784 and 1836 and was mostly based in Shelton, Staffordshire. It worked alongside other more famous potters such as Minton, Spode, Coalport and Ridgway, and produced both earthenwares and porcelain.
The combination of cobalt blue and gilt was very popular in the 1820s; as rooms were lit by candles at the time, you can imagine the flickering light being reflected in the lavish gilt - one important reason to use so much gilt on table ware.
The set is unmarked, as was common during this period, except the pattern number 1038, which on several items is written wrongly as 1836 or 1830.
DOCUMENTATION: an image of a teapot in this same pattern can be seen in Plate 1580, page 264 in "A Directory of British Teapots" by Michael Berghoud and Richard Maskell.
CONDITION REPORT The set is in excellent antique condition with very few flaws, little wear and no crazing; one of the teacup handles has been professionally restored, and one of the saucers has a crack.
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 teapot 26cm (10.25") between handle and spout; teacups 9.2cm (3.6") diameter; coffee cups 8.2cm (3.25") diameter.
