Samuel Alcock Porcelain Basket, Rococo Revival, Maroon, Flower Reserves, ca 1835

A small porcelain basket in Rococo Revival style with scroll and shell moulded borders, pierced handles on both ends, a pale yellow twig handle, a French blue ground with pale yellow foliage and a fine landscape painting in the centre. This would make a perfect gift as a trinket dish - these baskets were often used to collect visting cards from guests. Pattern unknown Year: ca 1830 Size: 17.5cm (6.8”) long, 9cm (3.5”) tall Condition: excellent The Samuel Alcock factory was operative in Staffordshire between 1822 and 1856, after which it was bought by Sir James Duke and Nephews. The factory started as a partnership between the young Samuel Alcock and the older Ralph Stevenson, who provided the factory and capital. Alcock quickly took the factory to great heights, building one of the biggest factories of its time. Alcock jumped on the new Rococo Revival fashion and served a huge new middle class market. The reason we now don't hear much about Samuel Alcock porcelain...

On offer is a beautiful porcelain vase made by Samuel Alcock circa 1840 during the Rococo Revival era. It has a maroon ground and a stunning landscape painting. Samuel Alcock was on...

A teapot with cover in the “rustic bean” shape, cobalt blue ground with gilt acanthus motif and finely painted flower posies on the belly of the teapot Pattern 5782 Year: ca 1837 Si...

This is a beautiful coffee cup and saucer made by Samuel Alcock around 1830, which was the Rococo Revival era. The set is decorated with a bold Imari pattern and has a "ring-moulded" shape. Samuel Alcock was one of the many potters in Staffordshire such as Spode, Coalport, H&R Daniel and many others during the 1830s and 1840s. He was perhaps not the most well-known of potters but produced very high quality wares and original designs, often standing out for their bright choice of colours and beautiful shapes. The Alcock factory is not well documented so although they had a huge output, items are often mis-identified and we don't know much about the production process of artists, even though the wares have a very high quality that equals that of the more well known factories. The Rococo style was originally a style of the 18th Century. After the Baroque style, which was highly symmetrical and well-designed as it aimed to express the perfection of God, the Rococo style was a reaction that expressed the unpredictability and flow of nature. "Rococo" is derived from the French word "rocaille", which stands for a mass of pebbles that are self-organised in a completely unpredictable mess, for instance on the beach or in the mountains. Rococo moved away from the stranglehold that religion had on the arts: it was capricious, asymmetrical, charming and worldly. As Europe got mired in various wars between Germany, France and Britain, the general style got much more austere again and people embraced neo-classicism. But in the 1830s and 1840s, the seemingly unlimited fortunes of the Industrial Revolution sparked a revival of Rococo, once again creating natural shapes that are not always symmetrical and don't particularly make rational sense. This coffee cup can...

A footed two-handled sauce tureen with cover, maroon and pale yellow ground with beautiful hand painted flower sprays on lower part of body; twisted handles and a petticoat stem Pat...

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