Tea Bowl and Saucer, hard paste porcelain, c.1805

This tea bowl and saucer is decorated with fern-like iron red fronds and berries in overglaze enamel. The glaze itself is a bluish white.

Although the maker's identity is unknown, it is likely to have been a large and important Staffordshire factory operating at the beginning of the 19th century.

Berthoud illustrates a low oval creamer decorated in this pattern, marked with the number 76 (A Cabinet of British Creamers, plate 398). The so-called 'Mystery Prow' group also used a similar pattern, marked with the number 32 (see A Directory of British Teapots, plate 552).

The opacity and irregularities in the body and glaze suggest an experimental period in production, perhaps alongside bone china wares.

Condition: Good - no chips, cracks or restoration. The red enamel decoration shows only very slight wear.

Dimensions: Saucer - Diameter 5 7/16" (13.8cm); Tea bowl - Diameter 3 1/4" (8.2cm); Height 1 7/8" (4.8cm)

Michael Berthoud, A Cabinet of British Creamers (Micawber Publications, 1999).

Michael Berthoud & Richard Maskell, A Directory of British Teapots (Micawber Publications, 2006).