This is a rare and beautiful pair of low comports made by H&R Daniel in about 1838. The dishes are potted in the "pierced" or "Queens" shape and bear pattern no. 7162 with two named landscapes set in a grey border. The paintings are of two very famous and beautiful sites in Shropshire, their names in long hand on the underside of the dishes: "Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire", and "Ludlow Castle, Shropshire". They have further "Union" details on the rim, which symbolise the Acts of Union in 1801, see for explanation below.
These footed dishes would have been part of a large dessert service. But as each service would have had only between 2 and 4 of these dishes, they are quite hard to find, so this is a rare find.
The H & R Daniel porcelain factory was founded by Henry Daniel, son of a family of master colour makers. He headed up the decoration department in the famous Spode factory where he oversaw all the beautiful early Spode decorations. In 1822 he opened his own factory with his son Richard, creating a truly iconic body of work with the most subtle colours and beautifully painted flowers and landscapes.
The Daniel factory was the last true cottage industry among the English porcelain factories, resisting the increase of industrialisation and mass production. This resulted in extraordinary and unrivalled quality, but it probably also led to the factory having to close its doors in 1846 because it could no longer compete with others who did modernise. Daniel porcelain can be hard to identify as the factory was only around for about two decades, but this short duration and the low output also means that Daniel items have become true collectors' items.
This dish is potted in the "pierced" or "Queens" shape, which was used between 1837 and 1842. It is a beautiful shape with three pierced details on the rim, named after Queen Victoria, who ascended to the throne in 1837. The pattern consists of a very deep cobalt blue ground, pale yellow details on the pierced rim and the handles, and a beautiful hand painted pink rose in the centre.
On the rims can be found a thistle, a shamrock and two roses, one of which should really have been a daffodil. They stand for the Acts of Union in 1801, which added Ireland to the United Kingdom of Great Britain, symbolised by a rose for England, a thistle for Scotland, a shamrock for Ireland and what should have been a daffodil for Wales, but strangely has become another rose on these dishes - the painter must have gotten a bit confused here.
This dishes have provenance; they came from the Beardmore Collection of H&R Daniel porcelain.
The comports are unmarked except pattern no. 7162 and they bear the collector's labels.
CONDITION REPORT The comports are in good antique condition without damage, crazing or repairs. They have some minimal wear, as visible in the pictures.
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 (diameters) 28.5cm (11.25") wide
H&R Daniel pair of low comports, Queens shape, grey, named landscapes, ca 1838
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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!
