This is a beautiful Hilditch teacup and saucer made around the year 1820. The cup has a "7" handle and a nicely flared lip.
The Hilditch pottery only operated from 1811 to 1833 but it had a large output in both useful earthenwares and some finer porcelain.
This set is beautifully decorated in quite an unusual way: it has a rich cobalt blue ground, applied under the glaze in "flow blue", a thin paint that tends to get a little patchy and runny, creating a lively effect. But rather than painting the roses on top of the cobalt blue ground, the decorator chose to leave the outline of each flower out in the blue ground and then fill it in on top of the glaze with brightly coloured enamel paint. This creates an interesting layered effect that is slightly messy but very charming - very much the way dogroses actually grow along any English country road! To finish it all, there is a rim of neatly gilded Greek keys - a wonderful contrast with the messy roses.
CONDITION REPORT The cup and saucer are in good antique condition with some minor flaws. The teacup is crazed; there is some overall wear to the gilt; and there are some firing specks in the bottom of the cup. All of these flaws are visible in the pictures; please study them carefully.
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!
SHIPPING I ship worldwide from the UK, mostly by Royal Mail 2nd Class for the UK and International Tracked and Signed for the rest of the world. I am happy to combine shipping charges on multiple items - please contact me to discuss. In principle I do not make a profit on shipping although for simplicity's sake I charge flat shipping fees. If the fee charged greatly exceeds the actual cost I will gladly refund you the difference - at the same time if it is slightly lower I will gladly make up the difference. In some countries shipping will end up significantly more than the expected fees and I will contact you to discuss our options. PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING SHIPPING COSTS AND OPTIONS.
Hilditch teacup, cobalt blue, dogroses and Greek keys, ca 1820
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