Pair of Large English Creamware Chinoiserie Dishes, Circa 1780

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Description

Pair of Large English Creamware Chinoiserie Dishes, Circa 1780

A pair of big, pale, quietly funny English creamware dishes, painted … Read more Pair of Large English Creamware Chinoiserie Dishes, Circa 1780

A pair of big, pale, quietly funny English creamware dishes, painted around 1780 with a scene of thoroughly imaginary China: a lady in a manganese shawl sits in what is unmistakably an English chair while one attendant holds a parasol over her and another offers a little dish of red fruit, all between feathery red grasses under a sky of flick-of-the-brush birds. Sprigged flowers are scattered over the well and the shaped rim. The two dishes were painted freehand from the same design, so they match without being identical — which is exactly how you can tell it was done by hand in the eighteenth century.

Creamware was the tableware that made Wedgwood’s name — Queen’s Ware, the fashionable alternative to porcelain — and most of it was plain. Hand-painted figure scenes like this were the expensive option, and big dishes in surviving pairs are genuinely hard to find.

Nearly thirteen inches across. Hang them as a pair, prop them on a dresser or mantel, or use them — creamware was made to be eaten off, and it still loves a table.

Dimensions
Diameter: 12.75 inches; Height: 1.25 inches See less