Antique Porcelain Vases: Brownfield, Coalport, Copeland, Royal Crown Derby, Grainger and Co Vases.
Antique Porcelain Vases: Brownfield, Coalport, Copeland, Royal Crown Derby, Grainger and Co Vases.
Antique porcelain vases were usually made purely for decoration and not to hold flowers. The price is now governed by the quality and decorative value. and, as always. by the factory. There are quirks in this section as in the others. The Minton flower-encrusted vase was really quite cheap, because the heavy flower encrustation put off buyers who feared damage and because of the impossibility of cleaning it.
Watch out for vases that have loti their covers; these arc often easily identifiable by the flange at the mouth to take the cover, or by an unglazed or ungilt rim, or simply as a question of proportion. Occasionally. on later Worcester or Derby, the mouth is gilt under the cover and can be missed .
Watch for replaced covers that do not quite fit. Check damage on handles, mouth, base, cover and knop - the most vulnerable points. Note that a vase has been seen with the handles broken off, the area where they were, ground down and then resprayed and gilded.
Worcester vases at the junction of socle and body were, between 1890 and 1920, very poorly joined with slip before firing. They break cleanly at this point and any restoration is difficult to detect.
Signed paintings on vases are generally of greater interest than those unsigned and many artists are recorded with their dates in the standard reference books. We have never yet seen a famous signature, such as Davis or Stinton, added to an anonymous vase, but no doubt that will come.
Belleek Vase third quarter of the 19th century.
A rare and desirable piece of Belleek, both for its large size and good coloration; it is also well moulded. An uncoloured example and a late piece with the added County
Fermanagh, Ireland to the crest.
Brownfield and Son c 1875. Printed globes mark.
A parian vase in the same matt coloration as the following piece, the body apricot and the leaves putty-coloured with white flowers.
Brown-Westhead Vase, Moore and Co.
A high quality piece from a factory little known for this type of ware, the white figure seated on gilt and apricot sheaths forming vases.
Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co.
A fine pair of vases with well painted classical scenes on an apple-green ground with flowers at the base and gilt handles. An uncommon factory for large pieces of this sort.
Coalport first quarter of the 19th century.
An attractive flower-painted vase in bright enamels, reserved on a pink ground with gilt borders. It is worth comparing this vase with the Rockingham vase on p.421 which,
although a little larger, is as well painted but without the coloured ground.
Coalport c.1840.
A sad example of the dying of a good vase. One handle has completely vanished, the other almost, and most of the flowers have been plucked. However the painting is good and the main body of the vase undamaged. With handles ground off, the flowers repaired where possible, or again ground off and restored, it will probably appear on the market at about.
Coalport Vase 1861.
A vcry good vase in a sorry state with several severe body cracks. An important vase, as it was shown at the 1862 Exhibition and was illustrated in Waring’s Masterpieces of the
1862 Exhibition. It was probably painted by R.F. Abrahams. A comparable perfect exarm.
Coalport c. 1861. CBD monogram.
A superb pair of rose-pompadour ground vases with brilliantly painted scenes after Boucher. The rope handles and other details picked out in gilding. The factory had a
reputation at the time for the success of its pink ground but the production of the body suffered at the junction with the foot, where it is likely to become detached. Such
damage does not greatly affect the price. The CBD monogram stands for Coalbrookdale.
Coalport c. 1861. Gilt ampersand.
A large and very high quality vase and cover. probably made for the 1862 Exhibition. The putti in clouds were probably painted by James Rouse who later became the star decorator
at Derby. The bleu-celeste ground is gilt with scroll work. It is highly unlikely that this vase ever had a companion, but a similar pair.
Coalport Vases 1897. Printed name, refailer’s name.
A large and well executed vase made to commemorate the 1897 Diamond Jubilee. The s mail medallions on one side show scenes of the time when the Queen came to the throne in 1837,
and on the other the same updated, Le. reaping by hand and then mechanically. Only 50 were made for Osler’s of Oxford St. One of the few exceptions to the rule that coronation
or commemorative wares are of little value.
Coalport 1898.
A small pair of vases with deep blue body painted with scenes within lemon-yellow panels. Rather too ‘dumpy’ both in form and decoration to be generally desirable but in this
case their small size brings them into the miniature category, of which there are many collectors.
Coalport c. 1900
A three-handled vase with good gilding on the dark-blue ground enclosing small landscapes. This example was sold with one damaged handle, which gives an idea of how very little
damage can dramatically reduce values.
Coalport c 1900
A vase painted with fruit and leaves in a gilt-edged panel on a blue ground. A popular type of vase which can fetch more than it possibly deserves.
Coalport c.1920. Printed name. retailer’s mark
A good pair of vases and covers with well painted fruit panels by F.H. Chivcrs, signed, on a royal-blue ground. Fine qualiry Coalport bas been rising quite fast recendy to bring
it more in line with the Royal Worcesiera and Derbys. A Single vase and cover.
Copeland 1862.
A fine vase, one of a pair, painted by CF. Hurten and exhibited at the 1862 Exhibition. The neck and foot with blue leaves and gilding on a pink ground, and ail of a high
standard. The knop in ormolu.
Copeland Vase 1870
HPrinted, WTC monogram and dated A damaged piece brilliantly painted by CF. Hurten, signed. It was executed for, and exhibited at, the 1871 Exhibition and is illustrated in the
catalogue. The initials are those of W.T. Copeland, the owner of the factory. A comparable perfect piece. Hurten was one of the best flower painters of the period, his work
appearing at the major exhibitions. A very large vase, possibly his masterpiece, is in the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Copeland 1874.
An amusing and well executed pair of vases, the nest turquoise and the rest with gilt lining.
Copeland 1891-1902. Printed name
The shoulders in apple-green and gilding above clear and naturalistic flowers, painting by F. Adams, signed. Copeland vases of this quality and date are not common and are
sought after. As always, single vases are much less expensive.
Copeland c.1900
A richly-decorated pair of vases with 18th century figure subjects by S., signed, the rest of the body deep-blue and gilt scrolled. Alcock was amongst the better late 19th
century painters and the large size of these makes them highly desirable. A damaged knop would reduce the price.
Copeland and Garrett 1833-47.
A dainty pair of spill vases with attractive painting and gilding. Less С than the flower-encrusted type and now more popular. Single
Davenport 1815-25.
Porcelain vase in the Paris Empire style. Decorated with raised and tooled gilt agricultural trophies on a matt blue ground. Handies in the form of female heads. Vases and
ornamental wares from ihis factory from before 1840 are very rare.
Derby Crown Porcelain Company Vase 1885
A superb quality vase, designed by H. Warrington Hogg, but lacking its cover, with very pale gold gilding on a cream ground with metallic red and green- flowers and with matt
and burnished gilt borders.
Royal Crown Derby 1889.
A washed-out yellow ground combined with appallingly insensitive gilding makes these amongst the least desirable wares from a much collected factory with a usually high
standard. There was a period in the 1880s when a lot of bad gilding was done.
Royal Crown Derby 1891. Printed crowned monogram and date code
A pair of eccentrically designed vases with gilt handles and decoration on a rose-pompadour ground. The painting is unfortunately not of the best, with a resulting lowish price.
Even slightly better decoration.
Royal Crown Derby 1892
A popular type of decoration with iron-red, underglaze-blue and gilt flowers, some outlined in relief gilding, but with an overall somewhat confused appearance.
Royal Crown Derby 1893.
Maroon ground vase with gilt hog-weed, overall a dull appearance.
Royal Crown Derby 1904 Height.
An exceptionally large vase painted by W. Mosley, signed, with flowers on a gros-bleu ground, gilt with scrolls. The large size and high standard makes this a particularly
desirable piece of Derby. The mark also has the Royal Coat of Arms.
Royal Crown Derby Vase 1910. Printed crowned monogram.
The flower painting by S. Hardy, signed and with good gilding on the gros-bleu ground. As always with Royal Crown Derby of this date a highly proficient production.
Doulton Late 19th century.
The roses against a deep-blue ground and with gilt leaves. Because Doulton produced so much interesting stoneware in the late 19th century its porcelain, which was never very
exciting, is largely unappreciated. The factory did not receive its ‘Royal’ title until 1901.
A garniture of vases with panels of flowers on a gros-bleu ground above gilt springing leaves..
Well pierced and gilt bodies painted with small panels of flowers, originally had covers.
Grainger and Co. 1870-89.
A well pierced vase and cover with simple gilt line details. The more elaborate the design of the piercing the more expensive the piece will be. A net has been defined as a lot
of holes held together by string and it appears that the more these wares resemble holes held together by porcelain the more they are appreciated.
Grainger and Co. 1870-89.
A pair of vases with a creamy matt ground with gilt-edged leaves and pink flowers. Rather too plain to attract a very high price, they also had covers originally. With covers
A moon flask decorated with printed outlines of coloured sprigs and a butterfly against a duck-egg blue ground. The sparse decoration relieved a little by the
gilt mask and snake handles.
Grainger and Co.
Moulded KL monogram.
A well-decorated pate-sur-pate vase, probably by one of the large family of Lockes whose initials appear on the base. Contemporary photographs show this shape as Grainger9 s,
where the father, Edward, worked for a time before he set up the short-lived Locke’s Worcester factory producing Royal Worcester style vases. Despite the high quality of the
decorations, as with many other pate-sur-pate artists, apart from Solon, the work is underrated.
Grainger and Co. 1890. Printed shield and registration
An amusingly conceived pair of vases with a little gilding and pierced bodies and necks. Grainger’s pierced work was of as high a standard as that of Royal Worcester, excluding
the individual work of George Owen
and the paste used is an attractive, slightly matt, ivory tint, more sympathetic than the Royal factory’s counterpart.
An attractive vase with pierced and gilt spirals. With all pierced wares of this type it is worth examining the piece with great care as it is possible to damage one small
scroll leaving an almost unnoticeable hole or hair crack.
Grainger & Co. 1891.
With deep blue body with gilt and grey-blue hops.
1891-1900. Printed shield An extraordinarily dcsigned pair of vases with the form based on die Chinese ku of a Shang dynasty bronze and the pierced scrolling
both indian and Moorish influenced. The result is not aitogether comfortabie especially as the casting is rather heavily executed and unrelieved by gilding. Examples may be
found decorated with gilding.
Grainger and Co. 1900.
A little more unusual in form than most Grainger’s and with an obviously J. Stinton-influenced design of Highland cattle on a peachy-yellowy ground, but unsigned.
J. Hadley & Sons 1900 Vase.
A tag with coloured slip decoration and painted orchids, gilt details, like most of Hadley’s products,of good quality and unusual coloration.
George Jones 1874-91.
A pate-sur-pate vase decorated by F. Schenk, signed, against a deep green body, the ring handles gilt. Schenk was a competent artist in the medium but his work has not been much
collected, possibly partry due to the dumpy shape supplied by George Jones and the uninteresting gilding Prices have risen sharply over the last year.
A porcellanous tour-de*force, but despite the brilliance of the painting of the figure scenes and the richness and high standard of the flower-encrustation, the price is
affected by as mundane a reason as the difficulty of cleaning it without pieces breaking off. Because of this such vases are rarely found perfect; it is indeed unlikely that
they ever left the factory without some restoration and a certain amount is there- fore acceptable. As it is almost impossible to display safely unless under a glass dome, the
price is again affected adversely. Despite the lack of mark the shape is known and illustrated as the *Very large Dresden vase* number 230 in the 1840 Min ton design book. It is
interesting that the cost of the vase included antique for the figure painting and S/* for the floral bouquet on the cover.
Minton 1845. A fine vase after a Sevres original, well painted with exotic birds and with blue, pink and gilt borders and handles. The type is known as Sneyn from the design
record books and was on view at the 1849 Birmingham Exhibition.
Minton 1862 Vase.
With better moulding these could have been quite attractive vases, the body pale and the leaves dark green and with white lily of the valley flowers. This pair are in reasonable
condition, most of the flowers intact. Any damage would reduce the price.
Minton 1862
Well painted in bright enamels, the blue-celeste ground with fine tooled gilding. The dancing maidens not a highly desirable subject.
These vases were shown at the 1862 Exhibition in London and bear the puce ermine mark used only on those pieces.
Tags: 19th century, ANTIQUE, antique porcelain, Coalport, coloration, Copeland, copeland and garrett, county fermanagh ireland, Davenport, decoration, Derby, Diamond, factory, flower, Garrett, gilding, monogram, porcelain, Porcelain Vases, Queen, Royal, royal crown derby, S. Hardy, side, Vase, Vases, Victoria, W.T. Copeland, white flowers