This is a beautiful part dessert service made by Royal Crown Derby in 1916. The service consists of one serving dish and ten plates, and is decorated with beautiful scalloped rims in turquoise and gilt, delicate flower garlands and a very fine flower spray on each item.
The Derby Porcelain factory has its roots in the late 1740s, when André Planché, a Walloon Huguenot refugee, started making simple porcelain toys shaped like animals. Local entrepreneur William Duysbury took an interest in his skills and worked with him to improve the quality of his wonderfully shaped items. Together they laid the foundations of what would become a very refined tradition of figure making at Derby. In 1769 Duysbury bought up the bankrupted Chelsea factory, incorporating their reputation for high quality figures, vases and tableware; this combination of traditions, porcelain making skills, sophisticated clients and available work people created one of the best porcelain factories of the 18th and 19th Centuries. The factory went through many ups and downs in the 19th Century and was completely re-constituted in the late 19th Century; today it is one of the very few factories still operative.
This plate is a fine example of the Edwardian style with its grace, fine painting and delicate gilt. The pattern has similarities to the famous "Royal Antoinette" pattern that is still made today.
The items have the red Royal Crown Derby mark, the pattern number 4998 and a date code for the year 1916, which is unusual as understandably production was low during the First World War. It also has a printed retailers mark for Osler, 100 Oxford Street in London.
CONDITION REPORT The set is in excellent and fully usable condition. Only a few of the plates have light wear; one plate has one chip and another two chips but these are on the underside of the rim and not visible when in position. Other than this no damage, crazing or repairs and very little rubbing.
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 plates 21.6cm (8.5") diameter, serving dish 24.5cm X 24cm (9.75" X 9.5").
Royal Crown Derby part dessert service, turquoise with flower garlands, 1916
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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!
