An early New Hall Coffee Cup, unrecorded pattern, circa 1787-95
Of generous proportions, this early New Hall coffee cup has a desirable clip handle. The cup is decorated with a blue band from which are suspended leafy swags of roses and small round flowers. A thin puce enamel line is painted just beneath the rim, and the handle is picked out with a puce design of dots, flowers and a line.
New Hall produced two other similar patterns in the late 18th century; the actual pattern numbers are unknown but collectors have assigned to them the numbers u15 (decorated with a blue band on the interior) and u290 (with a blue and on the exterior). The major difference between those patterns and the present example is that the roses and round flowers suspended from swags are entirely different to the daisy-like flowers on both of the other two patterns. Compare with A Partial Reconstruction of the New Hall Pattern Book, p.95, and A Partial Reconstruction of the New Hall Pattern Book, Supplement No.1, p.42.
Provenance: The Huxley-Robinson Collection.
Dimensions: Height 6 cm.
Condition: This piece is free from chips or restoration, having only a faint star crack beneath the collector’s paper label to the base. This appears to be confined to the glaze and does not go through to the porcelain. There is very minor wear to the enamel decoration. From manufacture, there are a few tiny kiln spots to the foot rim, typical of this early period of production.
New Hall & Its Imitators, David Holgate, Faber (1971).
A Partial Reconstruction of the New Hall Pattern Book, Pat Preller (2003).
A Partial Reconstruction of the New Hall Pattern Book, Supplement No.1, Pat Preller (2008).
New Hall Porcelains, Geoffrey Godden, Antique Collectors’ Club (2004).
Price: £45.