A Liverpool Coffee Can, probably John or Seth Pennington, circa 1780
This neatly potted coffee can is painted in enamels with a chinoiserie design featuring two figures in a garden. A woman gestures towards a boy who runs towards her with a spray of flowers in his hand. The scene is divided by a gnarled tree. The interior is decorated with a red line-and-loop border.
The small roll handle and unglazed base are typically found on John Pennington coffee cans.
While the design shares similarities with the Scolding Woman pattern, the inclusion of a boy running with a spray of flowers suggests an unrecorded pattern or a distinct variant.
Provenance: The Huxley-Robinson Collection.
Dimensions: Height 6.5 cm.
Condition: There is a small shallow chip and a short, faint hairline to the rim. From manufacture, there is a fully-glazed clay tear to part of the handle, and a kiln touch close to the base. There is also some misfiring to the interior base in the form of a network of fine lines, and minor potting, glazing and firing flaws to the rim. The enamel decoration is in attractive order.
Liverpool Porcelain 1756-1804, Maurice Hillis (2011).
Liverpool Porcelain of the Eighteenth Century, Bernard M. Watney (Richard Dennis, 1997).