Plate, Worcester, soft paste porcelain, c.1770-72

This Worcester plate was decorated in the studio of James Giles, confirmed by the unmistakable use of auricula sprays and tulips with divergent petals. The green camaieu decoration also includes a rose bouquet containing fruit, perhaps peaches, and also cherries. Most unusually, the artist has included a small mushroom on the flange. It is interesting to note the variety of shades and tones employed in an apparently monochrome design, from turquoise to puce.

Giles' Horner of Mells pattern contains green flowers with fruit and vegetables, and there may therefore be a connection with this design.

Unmarked.

Condition: Good condition with wear to the gilt line rim, some surface wear / scratches to areas of the enamel decoration, kiln speckling in places, consistent with being fired several times for the enamels and the gold, and some minor chipping to the footrim and fritting to the rim. There is a small clay tear on the reverse. There are no cracks or areas of restoration.

Worcester porcelain decorated in the studio of James Giles is much sought-after, and this plate would enhance any collection of 18th-century English porcelain.

Dimensions: Diameter 8 3/4" (22.2cm)

In Search of James Giles, Gerald Coke (Micawber Publications, 1983).

James Giles China Painter, 1718-1780, (Albert Amor exhibition catalogue, 1977).