Donegall Dish

Today I have a very unusual dish, the full story of which is not exactly clear. This intriguing dish was made by Caughley / Chamberlains Worcester in about 1793, and it is decorated in a "harlequin" pattern with six different rim motifs. These motifs are in the style of the famous "Marquess of Donegall" pattern; a very finely painted design with neoclassical geometric details in the rim, and fine flower sprigs all over the surface.

Dishes like this one usually belonged to a large dessert service. However, given the slightly erratic design it is possible that this was a sampler, showing several different pattern options for clients to choose from. 

Was this perhaps a sample sent to the First Marquess of Donegall to make a choice when ordering his now famous dessert service? The Marquess had been known as Arthur Chichester, Earl of Donegall, until 1791, which he was made Marquess of Donegall. He was an English nobleman and landowner, and as things went in those days, the beautiful island of Ireland was ruled by the English and titles were handed out to English noblemen in favour. So the fact that this pattern is connected to the Marquess does not mean it has anything to do with the gorgeous county called Donegal, in the very North of Ireland.

The famous "Marquess of Donegall" dessert service was potted at the Caughley factory, and decorated by Chamberlains Worcester. It appears in the Chamberlains order book with the date of 18 September 1793. What made this service so famous is the fact that it was a "harlequin" service, with each item showing a slightly different border pattern, creating a beautiful effect. The entire service consisted of no less than 132 pieces, and it cost the Marquess £217 10s and 6d... that's about £28,000 today! The whole service was famously sold by the family at Phillips in 1981, and has later been dispersed, with different pieces popping up in the market at different times.

So do we call this dish Caughley or Chamberlains Worcester? It is marked with the hand written red Chamberlains Worcester mark, but the mark is charmingly misspelled as "Chamberlins". Being a talented porcelain painter did not necessarily mean you had gone to school very long, so these misspellings did sometimes occur.

Generally, the service is identified as Caughley, so I've kept to that in spite of the marking. The quality of the porcelain is typical for Caughley in that era; it is beautifully fine but slightly uneven with some firing faults, which is characteristic.

But all that doesn't solve the riddle. Was this a design inspired by the service, or was it a sample for it? We will probably never know. However, the dish is in perfect condition and for sale in my shop, so here is an opportunity to own a beautiful piece of history.

Where to find things

You can find this dish here, and all my dishes and bowls are here. You can find all my available stock here. If you always want to see the latest additions, follow me on Instagram... I post pictures and a story several times a week.

Happy weekend everyone!

A sauce tureen from the original Donegall service, as sold at Bonhams in 2013. Credit: Bonhams

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This week's treasures:

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