Delft Dinner Plates

This pair of Dutch Delft blue and white large plates draws its strength from the density and control of the hand-painted decoration, where a bold central flower anchors a tightly com...

Factory mark of De Porceleyne Bijl Factory. Each painted with scenes of peasants drinking or dancing in a village setting.

Bristol Delftware Star Dish, Sponged Manganese, Chinoiserie Fence, English, Circa 1745 This Bristol delftware shallow dish, made around 1740 to 1750, shows the lively folk-art quality for which English delftware is so admired, a world away from the formal designs of imported porcelain. The center is dominated by a large five-pointed star built from bold freehand strokes of iron-red radiating from a copper-green ring. Within the ring sits a small stylized Chinese fence of latticed panels beneath a row of grass tufts, a much-simplified borrowing from the chinoiserie designs popular at the time. Around the star, clouds of sponged manganese, fired to a soft purplish brown, drift across the well and continue in a band around the border, where they alternate with fan-shaped sprays in iron-red. Small iron-red crosses and crescent strokes punctuate the well, and a broad green band frames the whole design inside the rim edge. The dabbed, uneven texture of the sponging gives the decoration a sense of movement and depth characteristic of Bristol painting of the period. Dimensions Diameter: 8 7/8 inches (22.5 cm) Depth: 1 1/4 inches (3.2 cm) Provenance Private Collection. Condition Good antique condition, with typical rim fritting and glaze crazing consistent with 18th-century delftware. References F. H. Garner and Michael Archer, English Delftware, revised edition, London: Faber and Faber, 1972. Louis L. Lipski and Michael Archer, Dated English Delftware: Tin-Glazed Earthenware 1600–1800, London: Sotheby Publications, 1984. Frank Britton, English Delftware in the Bristol...