Vase
Derby Porcelain Works
Category
Ceramics
Date
1785 - 1795
Materials
Biscuit porcelain
Measurements
167 x 56 mm; 113 mm (Width); 43 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Derby
Order this imageCollection
Saltram, Devon
NT 870917
Summary
A pair of biscuit porcelain vases in the shape of classical urns made at the Derby porcelain factory. Set on a square plinth and with two imbricated loop handles, the urns are decorated with festoons of flowers and acanthus foliage. The bases have incised marks: a crowned cross baton and D mark - for the Derby factory, used from about 1784; a triangle - the repairer's mark of Joseph Hill; 'No 116' - the pattern number.
Full description
The Derby porcelain factory was originally established by Andre Planchet, the son of a Huguenot immigrant, who moved to Derby in around 1748. The factory’s small scale production was developed by William Duesbury after he partnered with Planchet and banker John Heath in 1756. Duesbury expanded the factory, creating a substantial output of soft-paste porcelain including both useful and decorative wares. These items included a variety of shapes and decorative styles, aimed at the high end of the market. By 1770, Duesbury was able to purchase the established Chelsea porcelain and Bow porcelain factories in London. He closed the Bow factory and ran the ‘Chelsea-Derby’ production until 1783 when production continued solely at Derby. His son, William Duesbury II continued to run the factory, entering a partnership with Michael Kean in 1795. Kean ran the factory until his death in 1811 when it was taken over by Robert Bloor. The factory closed two years after Bloor’s death in 1848. The factory produced a variety of biscuit wares in the late 18th century. This unglazed porcelain was meant to imitate marble and often commanded higher prices than decorated wares. These vases follow designs created at the factory for 'Vases with Best Festoons.' Each design was incised with the pattern number in a series. Such biscuit wares were popularly purchased by confectioners, but were also bought for display on the dinner or dessert table. It is probable that this is how the urns were used by the family at Saltram. The Rev. Thomas Talbot described a formal meal in the Dining Room in 1811, ‘"not in full gala as to plate" but nevertheless "the table of an immense width with a plateau full of biscuit figures and vases with flowers etc. the whole length, leaving merely room for a dish at each end of a single row of dishes round with 4 ice vases with Champagne etc. at the corners of it…"
Makers and roles
Derby Porcelain Works, pottery manufacturer Joseph Hill, repairer