This is a stunning porcelain figure of Neptune with a dolphin, made by Derby around the year 1765. The figure is in beautifully restored condition.
The Derby Porcelain factory has its roots in the late 1740s, when Andrew Planché, a Walloon Huguenot refugee, started making simple porcelain toys shaped like animals in his back yard. In 1756 Staffordshire enameller William Duysbury and banker John Heath started a new porcelain factory with Planché and this was to grow out to the largest factory of its time, buying up the bankrupted Chelsea and Bow factories, as well as the stock of several other workshops including that of James Giles. The combination of various traditions, porcelain making skills and sophisticated clients enabled Duesbury to create one of the best porcelain factories of the 18th and 19th Centuries, which after many ups and downs is still operative today.
The Neptune figure was first brought out in about 1760, and then in various versions but never very different. This version has the number 299 and was brought out around 1765, but the only difference with previous ones is the way the rocky base has been embellished with a rich collection of colourfull shells. This particular figure is exceptionally colourful, the dolphin carrying many colours and Neptune himself dressed in a fluttering puce and yellow cape. Neptune is holding what might be the original trident.
We see Neptune besides a dolphin that is spouting water out of his large toothy mouth. Neptune is standing on a rock with encrusted shells, and has a trident in his hands. His cape flutters around him and you can see his muscular back exposed.
Figures like these were used to adorn the dinner table when dessert was served; groups of figures could serve to express something about the host, the guests, or to direct the conversation. Allegory was a popular pastime and every well-respected society figure was expected to be able to identify the seasons, trades, elements, senses or Greek and Roman gods and goddesses.
The item is unmarked, which is not unusual for this period; it does have the three famous "patch marks" at the underside.
This figure is numbered E61 in the Derby Factory List, and you can find an image of it in plate 99, page 115 in Peter Bradshaw's "Derby Porcelain Figures 1750-1848".
CONDITION REPORT: The figure has had extensive professional restoration and is looking as fresh as it would have been at the time it was produced. There is a firing crack through the base and there is an old crack in one of the teeth of the trident, which at some point has been broken. The original character of the figure has been beautifully brought back to life by the restoration and the repairs are entirely invisible.
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.
DIMENSIONS: Height ca 23cm (9").
Derby porcelain figure of Neptune with a dolphin, ca 1765
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