An interesting English porcelain Creamer, circa 1765
This small sparrow beak creamer is painted in underglaze blue with a version of the Mansfield pattern. To the bulbous body is attached a small, upright loop handle decorated with a line of underglaze blue dots.
The painted Mansfield pattern appears on wares produced at the Worcester, Bow, Lowestoft and Isleworth manufactories.
This creamer belongs to a small group of curious wares with characteristics typical of Isleworth porcelain, including horizontal crazing and virtually no translucency.
Unmarked.
Provenance: Private Collection, London.
Both the glaze and underglaze cobalt blue pigment of this piece have been tested using X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF). The results, published in the English Ceramic Circle Transactions, vol. 28, 2017, reveal that the cobalt blue contains nickel. This is significant as 10 out of 10 of all confirmed Isleworth pieces contain nickel, as do all 36 of the possible Isleworth pieces tested. Compare this with the results for Bow, where no nickel is present in the cobalt blue pigment.
Condition: There is some staining and chipping to the rim and lip, and also a very fine and small, curved hairline, also within the pouring lip. There are minor glaze and firing faults including a tiny patch of glaze-crawl, some light kiln speckling to the body, and a small, stained fault, mainly visible to the inside. No restoration. Two stilt marks are visible in the fused glaze within the foot rim.
Dimensions: Height 7 cm
Transactions, vol. 28 (English Ceramic Circle, 2017). See the entry for item no. 2015-04 124, page 25.
Isleworth Pottery and Porcelain: recent discoveries (English Ceramic Circle and Museum of London, 2003).
Godden’s Guide to Blue and White Porcelain, Geoffrey A. Godden (Antique Collectors’ Club, 2004).