This is a beautiful shell dish made by Yates in 1827. This is a avery interesting dish; it is made in the Shrewsbury shape of the H&R Daniel factory and although the pattern is noted as 1768, it exactly matches Daniel's pattern 4205. It clearly was made as a replacement, or possibly the H&R Daniel factory took on more orders than they could manage and asked Yates to step in and make some - this happened at the Potteries from time to time.
 
The dish was potted in the "Shrewsbury" shape and bears pattern no. 1768 (Daniel 4205) with beautiful hand painted flowers in the centre and a bright pink ground around the rim. The dish is formed like a shell, with one handle in the shape of a shell with moulded vines around it, all picked out in gilt. Shell dishes formed part of a dessert service and were designed so that guests could easily pass a wet dessert, such as trifle, along the table to serve themselves. A dessert service would have had two, four or six of these depending on the number of place settings.
 
There are slight differences between this dish and Daniel's; the pink colour is a little more bright, and the dental details on the rim are slightly different.
 
We have several items available related H&R Daniel patterns, please see second image and separate listings.
 
The Yates factory was operative between 1784 and 1836 and was mostly based in Shelton, Staffordshire. It worked alongside other more famous potters such as Minton, Spode, Coalport and Ridgway, and produced both earthenwares and porcelain.
 
Daniel's "Shrewsbury" shape was used between 1827 and 1836. It is a beautiful shape named after the Earl of Shrewsbury, who first ordered a service in this shape in 1826. 
 
Provenance:  J&J Simpson Collection; Beardmore Collection. The dish is unmarked and bears the pattern number and the collectors' labels - clearly both collectors were confused about the numbers!
 
A plate by H&R Daniel in this pattern and shape is shown on page 45 of "Daniel Patterns on Porcelain" by Michael Berthoud and Lynne Price.
 
An image of this very same dish can be found on page 98 in Susan and Gordon Pickett's "Daniel Patterns on Porcelain Tablewares", incorrectly identified as made by H&R Daniel.
 
CONDITION REPORT The dish is in excellent antique condition without any damage, repairs, or crazing and just some scratches on the pink rim and the centre, 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): 23cm (9") X 22cm (8.5").