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An important early Worcester plate, circa 1751-53 image 1
An important early Worcester plate, circa 1751-53 image 2
An important early Worcester plate, circa 1751-53 image 3
Lot 56

An important early Worcester plate, circa 1751-53

30 June 2010, 10:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £10,800 inc. premium

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An important early Worcester plate, circa 1751-53

Plain circular after a Chinese original with a flat flange, painted in blue with the 'Boys at Play' pattern, three Chinese figures adopting Martial Arts poses on a garden terrace, the border with panels of pomegranates between honeycomb diaper, the under-rim with four Precious Objects, 23.3 cm diam, pseudo Chinese character mark within concentric circles (footrim drilled for suspension)

Footnotes

Illustrated by Geoffrey Godden, Eighteenth-Century English Porcelain (1985), item 27, pls. 73-74, English Blue and White Porcelain (2004) pls. 145-146, and An Introduction to English Blue and White Porcelain (1974), pl. 20. It is also illustrated by Branyan, French and Sandon, Worcester Blue and White Porcelain (1981/1989), pattern I.A.19. This is a direct copy of a Chinese porcelain plate from the Kangxi period around 1700 and depicts figures practising Martial Arts. The design was used in the earliest phase of production at Worcester. A plate with the same central subject and an individual cut-out rim matches a biscuit porcelain shard found in the very lowest levels during excavations at Worcester. This experimental plate was sold by Bonhams in London 18 June 1993, lot 241 and is illustrated along with the present lot in Digging For Early Porcelain, p. 67, fig. 5. A small glazed fragment of the honeycomb border from this pattern was found during excavations on the Worcester site in 1968-9. Another plate, very similar to the present lot, was in the collection of the Hon. Anthony Lyttelton and is illustrated by Franklin Barrett, Worcester Porcelain and Lund's Bristol (1953), pl. 44b.

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