A Baddeley-Littler Saucer, circa 1777-85
This Baddeley-Littler saucer is painted with a Chinese export style pattern depicting a central bouquet of colourful back-to-back flowers tied with a red ribbon. This is surrounded by an inner border of flowerheads linked by feathery purple scrolls. The outer border comprises an ornate iron-red double line scrolling design punctuated by four floral sprigs.
William Littler was connected with the Longton Hall manufactory in Staffordshire from 1750-60, before going on to produce porcelain at West Pans, near Musselburgh in Scotland. After 1777, it is likely that Littler returned to Staffordshire where he began to produce porcelain with Ralph Baddeley, although the enterprise was relatively short-lived.
Baddeley-Littler porcelains do not fit into the usual porcelain groups of the period as it is not of the hard paste type, nor does it have a soapstone or bone-ash body. It is a glassy soft paste frit porcelain with a high lead content, similar to that of the earlier Longton Hall wares. There is a tendency for the glaze to bubble and discolour.
Condition: Good – no damage or restoration just characteristic early potting, glazing and firing irregularities typical of Baddeley-Littler frit porcelain, including kiln grit, kiln touches and glaze crawling.
Dimensions: Diameter 13.2 cm
Staffordshire Porcelain, Geoffrey Godden, Ed. (Granada, 1983).