A fine antique John Rose Coalport hockey sticks porcelain David Evans Plate C.1820

A very fine antique Georgian John Rose Coalport hockey sticks moulded porcelain Plate with a central gilt floral motif, moulded “Hockey Stick” and painted floral decoration within a shaped gilt rim, the painting likely by the Ex-Swansea artist David Evans, pattern number “2/61” in gilt to base. An extremely fine quality Plate. Images do not do justice to this fantastic item.

Circa 1820

Good antique condition with light wear as expected. With a lens only there is a small tight line (probably crazing and mentioned for accuracy – the Plate rings as it should) – a very fine Plate

9.25 inches (23.5 cm) dia X 1 1/8th inches (3cm) height approx

Safe UK shipping is included in the price, and international shipping is at cost.

Coalport, Shropshire, England was a centre of porcelain and pottery production between about 1795 (“inaccurately” claimed as 1750 by the company) and 1926, with the Coalport porcelain brand continuing to be used up to the present. The opening in 1792 of the Coalport Canal, which joins the River Severn at Coalport, had increased the attractiveness of the site, and from 1800 until a merger in 1814 there were two factories operating, one on each side of the canal, making rather similar wares which are now often difficult to tell apart.
Both factories made mostly tablewares that had elaborate overglaze decoration, mostly with floral subjects. A further round of mergers in 1819 brought moulds and skilled staff from Nantgarw porcelain and Swansea porcelain to Coalbrookdale, which continued to thrive through the rest of the century. The Coalport factory was founded by John Rose in 1795; he continued to run it successfully until his death in 1841. The company often sold its wares as Coalbrookdale porcelain, especially the pieces with flowers modelled in three dimensions, and they may be called Coalport China.

Rose employed William Billingsley, formerly at Nantgarw, as chief painter, and Billingsley’s chemist, Walker, who initiated at Coalport a maroon glaze and brought the Nantgarw technical recipes to Rose at Coalport. It is speculated that at least one of the figures used in the 1850s designs was created by sculptor Ellen Shenton.
Coalport and Coalbrookdale specialised in dinner services. The familiar “Indian tree” pattern, which is based in fact on Chinese rather than Indian prototypes, was originated at Coalport; variants have been produced by virtually all the British manufacturers of table wares and continue to be available today. Models that originated at Meissen and Sèvres were copied at Coalbrookdale in the mid-19th century, sometimes with misleading marks, “a practice which ought to have been avoided”, William Chaffers observed. Sprigged floral encrusted decoration was also typical of Coalport wares, such as vases, small boxes and table baskets.

In 1820 Rose received the gold medal of the Society of Arts for his feldspar porcelain and an improved, lead-free glaze, with which the enamel colours fused in firing. Favourite patterns were the “worm sprig” and the “Tournai sprig” introduced by Billingsley at Pinxton, the Dresden-inspired “Berlin china edge”, and the blue transfer willow pattern and blue dragon pattern.

During the 1830s the factory initiated the practice of applying a light transfer printed blue outline, to guide the painters. This preserved some of the freedom of hand-painted decoration, while it enabled Rose to keep up the pace of production.[10] The technique was widely adopted by other manufactories during the 19th century.
At The Great Exhibition (London 1851) an elaborate Coalport table service with deep borders of mazarin blue was shown; it had been commissioned by Queen Victoria as a gift to Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.

In the second half of the 19th century the Coalport manufacturers added yet another specialisation to their repertoire of hand decorated porcelains. They developed the technique called “jewelling” whereby small beads of coloured enamel were applied most often to a gold ground. According to the auctioneers Skinner Inc, it is thought this was first developed and introduced by the Worcester porcelain factory in the mid 1860s. Turquoise seemed to be the prevalent colour, meticulously and uniformly decorating tea wares, useful wares and ornamental wares, often accompanied by a rich raised gold decoration. They were produced for sale in Britain and abroad.

Rose’s rapid success enabled him to buy the Nantgarw porcelain manufactory in 1819 and the Swansea porcelain manufactory, with their repertory of moulds.

Battie, David, ed., Sotheby’s Concise Encyclopedia of Porcelain, 1990, Conran Octopus. ISBN 1850292515
Burton, William (1921). A General History of Porcelain. 2. pp. 102ff.
Bushnell, Gordon H. (2006), The Illustrated Guide to 19th Century Coalport Coalbrookdale Floral Encrusted Porcelain.
Chaffers, William (1866), Marks and monograms on pottery and porcelain: with historical notices… (2nd ed.)
Dillon, Edward (1904). “XXI – “English Porcelain – The Soft Paste of Derby, Worcester, Caughley, Coalport, Swansea, Nantgarw, Lowestoft, Liverpool, Pinxton, Rockingham, Church Gresley, Spode, and Belleek”. Porcelain. London: Methuen.
Fleming, John; Honour, Hugh (1977), “Coalport and Coalbrookdale porcelain factory”, in Dictionary of the Decorative Arts
Godden, Geoffrey A. (1970). Coalport and Coalbrookdale Porcelain. Barrie & Jenkins, London
Honey, W.B., Old English Porcelain, 1977 (3rd edn.), Faber and Faber, ISBN 0571049028