Chocolate Cup, First Period Worcester, soft paste porcelain, c.1765-70

This is a finely painted U-shape chocolate cup with a loop handle. It is decorated with fan-shaped and circular panels containing flower garlands, edged with gilded flowers and reserved on an underglaze powder blue ground. This type of powder blue decoration with fan panels initially appeared on Chinese porcelain, and factories such as Bow and Worcester attempted to capitalise on its popularity by creating their own versions. Lowesoft and Derby also used a powder blue ground, as did Caughley post-1775.

The base is painted with a red crescent mark.

Condition: Perfect - no chips, cracks or restoration. The decoration is exquisite.

Dimensions: Height 2 7/8" (7.3cm)

For a similar Worcester chocolate cup see The Sir Jeremy Lever Collection, Part 2, Lot 179 (Bonhams, 2008).

Geoffrey Godden, Eighteenth-Century English Porcelain (Granada, 1985).