Pair of Antique Derby Imari-Style Plates Made, circa 1825

This set of antique Flight Barr Barr Worcester dessert dishes are marked with an impressed crown over "FBB," showing that Flight Barr Barr was a purveyor to their Royal Majesties, the King and Queen of England. Made in England circa 1820, they are decorated in Worcester's "Strawberry" pattern. The dishes are painted in rich gold with strawberries on the palest peach ground. The color is subtle, and the design is elegant. The combination is superb. In the Regency period, the "Strawberry" pattern was the height of fashion for the table. Dimensions: 8.25" diameter Condition: Excellent Price: $1200 for the dozen dishes Background Flight Barr Barr Worcester were manufacturers to their Majesties. According to the Worcester Porcelain Museum, "During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Chinese porcelain was a great status symbol. Worcester produced a great alternative, whiter with brighter colors and more readily available, becoming the height of fashion in the early 19th century. The customer accounts of this period would read like a 'who's who' of the day. Luxurious personalized services were made for the wealthiest customers, including Tzar Alexander I...

This set of four hand-painted dishes were made by Derby in England late in the 18th century, circa 1790. The border shows an exquisite wavy orange ribbon that opens and closes while ...

This pair of Derby porcelain plates was hand painted, showing beautiful summer flowers in bright polychrome enamels. They were painted by eminent Derby flower painter Leonard Lead ci...

This set of eight antique English porcelain plates features vibrant hand-painted floral decoration. Made at Derby circa 1825, each plate features an exuberant bouquet of garden flowe...

This is a spectacular and very rare set of ten dessert plates made by Derby in about 1825, which was the Regency era. The plates are richly gilded, each with an individual gilt pattern, and have superb fruit paintings, also each unique, by the famous porcelain decorator Thomas Steel. One can occasionally find one of these plates in the market, but to find a whole set of 10 in such fabulous condition is extremely rare. The Derby factory, later reshaped into Royal Crown Derby, is currently the oldest British porcelain factory still in production. Derby was one of the most prominent potteries right from the start of English porcelain production in the mid 1700s to today. Their items are of exceptionally high quality and many of the designs have become iconic, particularly the Imari designs; many of these are still being made today. Derby made many exciting designs in the Regency era, and these plates are beautiful examples. The marking at the bottom indicates that the plates were produced some time between 1806 and 1825, when the company was called "Bloor Derby"; however the style is from between 1820 and 1825. Thomas Steel (sometimes written as Steele) is considered the very best 19th Century porcelain painter of fruits. He was born in Staffordshire in 1772 and was first apprenticed by Wedgwood. He moved to Derby in 1815, where he became the foremost flower and fruit painter. In 1825 he moved on to the Rockingham factory in Yorkshire, and a few years later to Minton in Staffordshire, where he worked the rest of his life. Steel had a very recognisable style of fruit painting, perhaps best described by the biographer John Haslem: "Steele painted both flowers and insects well, but as a painter of fruit on china he had no superior, if, indeed, he had any equal in his day... His grouping is harmonious, the light and shade well managed, each piece of fruit is well rounded, and the outline softened and blended into the one next to it, each partaking of the reflected colour from the other." These plates each have a different richly gilded border, and octagonal paintings...

An unusual set of 12 Royal Crown Derby dessert plates featuring an elegant and restrained central subject of subtly different urns wit...

This set is a great example of the iconic artistry and style of Royal Crown Derby. These plates are embellished with swags of vibrant hand-painted roses and two bands of acid etched...

A fine antique 19th century Derby hard paste porcelain plate. Decorated with a hand painted topographical scene to its center. The scene depicts a bucolic landscape 'Near Derby' in a gilt cartouche and surrounded by a gilt cornucopia...