George III Dinner Plates

This is a very rare plate from the famous "Earl of Camden" service made by the Derby Porcelain Company in 1795. The service was painted with typical English roses by William Billingsley, one of Britain's most famous painters, and responsible for exactly this type of rose painting on British porcelain. There are more items available in this pattern, see separate listings. To keep these items together we'd be happy to offer a discount on multiple purchases - please ask! The Derby Porcelain Company, later called Royal Crown Derby, is currently the oldest British porcelain factory still in production. The Derby pottery was one of the most prominent potteries right from the start of English porcelain production in the mid 1700s to today, and the factory went through many iterations. In the 1820s, it was called "Bloor Derby" as it came under the ownership of Robert Bloor; this factory later closed but its legacy was continued under the ownership of a group of employees, and later this was merged into a new factory called Royal Crown Derby, which is still in operation today and still carries forward some of the oldest patterns that have made it famous over the centuries. William Billingsley was a brilliant but notoriously difficult man who left behind a trail of debts, broken hearts and mystery - but he was also one of the most important people in the history British porcelain. Billingsley revolutionised the way British decorators painted flowers; he added a freedom and artistry that now singles out British flower painting, and he created a new technique for painting roses, which you can see in this design. Billingsley worked at Derby, Worcester and Mansfield. He also set up his own potteries in Pinxton and Nantgarw and created some of the best porcelain ever made, but racking up great debts, before running off in the dead of night and ending his days at Coalport painting flowers. Items painted by William Billingsley are rare and very much in demand - together with Thomas Baxter's work they are probably among the most desired pieces of British porcelain. The Earl of Camden service was a huge service ordered by Lady Camden in 1795. It had to be produced under great, and unrealistic, time pressure and was notoriously late, much to Lady Camden's chagrin. She wanted the service to be produced by only the best artisans and therefore William Billingsley was tasked with painting all items - but it is thought that when it was clear the deadline was impossible to make, he enlisted the help of John Brewer for some of the last items, such as the ice pails. This plate shows the typical "Billingsley" roses: a beautiful naturally flowing garland of English roses interspersed with buds, trailing around a crisp gilt ribbon. The way the roses link into each other, the way each individual one is completely different, the light effects achieved by rubbing out some of the pink paint, and the very fine buds and foliage all point to these being from Billingsley's hand. The piece has a rich provenance; it bears labels from the Doris Wheatley Collection, the Daniel Collection, Derek Gardner...

This is a beautiful small plate made by Worcester in about 1770 in their First or the "Dr Wall" period. The plate is slightly deep, has a lobed shape with a "wet blue" ground and bea...

This is a beautiful set of four plates made by Barr Flight & Barr in Worcester, and painted with a bold "Rich Japan" or Imari pattern in underglaze blue, pink, red and gilt. There ...

This is a beautiful part dessert service made by Barr Flight & Barr in Worcester, and painted with a bold "Rich Japan" or Imari pattern in underglaze blue, pink, red and gilt. The se...

This is a stunning dessert plate made by John Rose at Coalport in about 1805. The plate is decorated in underglaze cobalt blue and has beautifully hand painted flowers. Coalport was...

This is an spectacular and very rare 27-piece dessert service made by Chamberlain's in Worcester around 1795. The service is decorated with the famous "Kylin" or "Dragons in Compartm...

Heading : Worcester porcelain dessert plate Date : circa 1765 Period : George III Marks : None Origin : Worcester, England Colour : Transfer printed in puce with gilded rim. Si...

This is a very good, late Georgian Ironstone Dinner Plate decorated in a rare pattern No.58, manufactured by the English Davenport factory, which was situated in Longport, Staffordshire, England and dating to Circa 1815. This is a large dinner plate and is well potted with a slightly wavy rim. It is finely hand decorated in rare pattern No. 58, with brick red, green and blue enamels, showing a chinoiserie floral arrangement having a distinctive three part border, with additional hand gilded detail. The quality of the hand enamelling is very good. Davenport were one of the earliest producers of Ironstone along with Mason's, Spode and others and called their ironstone pottery wears "Stone China". On the back the plate carries the rare blue printed circular Davenport Stone China...

This is a charming dessert plate made by Coalport probably around the year 1805. The plate has a beautiful green checkered rim with little flowers and a very finely painted image of ...

This is a good PAIR of ironstone Dinner Plates in hand painted floral pattern No. 23, made by Hicks and Meigh of Shelton, Staffordshire, England betwee...

These are a very good, late Georgian pair of Ironstone Desert plates decorated in a rare pattern No.85, manufactured by the English Davenport factory, which was situated in Longport,...

This is an early and very decorative pair of ironstone pottery large soup bowls or deep plates, a produced by the Mason's factory at Lane Delph, Staffordshire, England, circa 1815 to 1820. The plates are circular with a slightly fluted outer rim having a wavy edge to the rim. Both plates are beautifully and elaborately decorated in one of Mason's chinoiserie patterns, called "Vase and Rock" which is sometimes called Peking vase...