First Period Worcester Porcelain Queen Charlotte Pattern Teapot & Cover

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Description

First Period Worcester Porcelain Queen Charlotte Pattern Teapot & Cover

This First Period Worcester porcelain teapot and cover is decorated … Read more First Period Worcester Porcelain Queen Charlotte Pattern Teapot & Cover

This First Period Worcester porcelain teapot and cover is decorated in the Queen Charlotte pattern, the globular body worked with spiraling bands in the Japan taste: whorls of deep underglaze blue reserved with white scrollwork, shells and flowerheads and traced in gilt, alternating with white bands carrying chains of stylized flowers, one with iron-red flowerheads and pale orange leaves, the other with puce blossoms and iron-red scrolls, each chain ending in a feathered pink tassel toward the foot. The domed cover is original to the pot and decorated en suite, its own spiral bands of blue and white narrowing as they rise to converge at the bud-shaped knop finial, tipped in iron red. A band of iron-red scrolls and flowerheads runs at the shoulder and around the rim of the cover, and a gilt line and a band of underglaze blue mark the foot. The plain loop handle and straight tapering spout are left white, throwing the vivid twisting pattern into relief.

A teapot of this pattern with its original cover is a strong single object for a cabinet, a mantel or a tea table, and its spiral of blue, iron red and puce sits equally well among other Worcester Japan patterns or as a bold accent against plain creamware and silver.

Dimensions
Height: 6 1/2 inches (16.5 cm)
Width, spout to handle: 7 1/2 inches (19.1 cm)
Depth: 5 inches (12.7 cm)

Marks
Fretted square (pseudo-Chinese seal) mark in underglaze blue within a single painted underglaze blue circle to the base.

Provenance
Private Collection, New York
Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge

Condition
Good antique condition, with no repairs or damage.

Historical Context
The Worcester factory, founded in 1751, produced during its First or Dr. Wall period (1751–1776) some of the most consistently successful porcelain in eighteenth-century England. Its soapstone body withstood boiling water better than any rival paste, which made Worcester tea wares the standard of the fashionable tea table, and teapots, subjected to daily use and thermal shock, are among the most vulnerable survivors, particularly with their original covers. The Queen Charlotte pattern, traditionally named for the consort of George III and also known as the whorl or Catherine wheel pattern, belongs to Worcester's celebrated group of Japan patterns, inspired by the Imari wares of Arita with their rich contrast of underglaze blue, iron red and gilding, here spun into a dizzying spiral that is among the most graphic and instantly recognizable designs of the period. The fretted square mark in underglaze blue, a pseudo-Oriental seal mark, is characteristic of Worcester's Japan patterns of the years around 1765–1775 and completes the deliberate evocation of the East. See less