A Caughley Coffee Cup, circa 1785
This bucket-shape Caughley coffee cup is decorated in the French taste with an ozier or basket-work moulded rim and Chantilly Sprigs pattern painted in underglaze blue. The rim is lined in blue. The double-scroll or clip handle is fairly unusual for having a branching lower terminal.
S mark to the base in underglaze blue.
This cup was made during a peaceful period between France and England, coming as it does after the conflict of the Seven Years’ War and before the Napoleonic Wars. It was a time when English manufacturers could once again look to the French as leaders in European taste and fashion. The pattern proved popular with the English market as versions of it were produced at Caughley, Worcester and Isleworth.
Condition: No damage or restoration. The soft-paste porcelain has a wonderful quality to it, not unlike the Chantilly porcelain it was seeking to imitate.
Dimensions: Height 5.7 cm
Caughley & Worcester Porcelains 1775-1800, Geoffrey A. Godden (Antique Collector’s Club, 1981).