Porcelain travel
These days it is increasingly hard to go out on trips, even in nature (let alone in cities). Here in Britain, we simply don't know which part of the country will be locked down next, or how drastically... but here is an alternative way to travel: on porcelain!
This stunning tea service was made by Minton in about 1825 and not only is it gorgeous, it is very rare and it has a story.
It was made in the graceful "B/French" shape, with clean lines and no frills in the way the items were shaped - this was the neo-classicist style of the early 19th Century, very much like the amazing green coffee service I showed a few weeks ago. All items have a yellow ground, which is rare because yellow was very difficult to fire. If the temperature in the kiln was only slightly too high, yellow would come out brown, and as kilns were fired on unreliable coal fires, you can imagine how much skill it took from the "fireman" to maintain the right temperature for about 12 hours on end.
But what makes the trio most special is the superbly hand painted decoration with landscapes. Mountains, rivers, cottages, forests, villages - the paintings cover a seemingly unending range of romantic landscape types. Are you aching to go out into nature, but are prevented by the pandemic? Here is your answer! Just looking at each item (29 in total) takes you to so many different landscapes, all painted in great detail.
These landscapes are not just contained in panels, as is usual for this style; they are painted all around the cups, which would have made production not only much more difficult but also significantly more expensive. Finally, each item has beautifully intricate gilding around the rims.
And then here is the story: this service has provenance. It was originally purchased from the collection of Geoffrey A. Godden and after some detours, found its way to my shop. The porcelain enthusiasts among you will know him from his books; he was Britain's foremost porcelain researcher in the 20th Century and wrote about 30 books on British porcelain - there is no collector who doesn't have at least a few of them on their shelf. He personally owned this service and wrote about it in one of his books - how cool would it be to be the next person to own these beauties? It is extremely rare to find even one trio of this style, let alone a whole set of nine. I am making this set available in the hope that it will never be split up, but kept together in its full glory.
You can find this superb set here in my shop, and you can see all my other tea services here. If you always want to see the latest additions, follow me on Instagram... I post pictures and a story every single day.
Happy weekend, and if you feel stir crazy with the pandemic, try some porcelain travel! 🏞🌲⛵️🏔🏡
This week's new treasures:
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