By Flight & Barr Worcester
Located in Downingtown, PA
Flight & Barr Worcester Queen Charlotte Pattern Plates, Pair
Circa 1792-1804
This pair of Worcester porcelain plates is decorated in the Queen Charlotte pattern, also known as the Whorl or Catherine-wheel pattern, painted in the Imari palette of underglaze cobalt blue, iron red, and pink with gilt highlights. The design radiates from a central pink and red rosette in a pinwheel of alternating panels, filled with stylised flowers and foliage derived from Japanese Imari wares, within a scalloped rim edged in iron-red scroll and gilding. Each plate bears the incised “B” mark of the Flight & Barr period.
Dimensions
Diameter: 9⅝ inches (24.4 cm)
Height: 1 inch (2.5 cm)
Marks
Each plate incised “B” to the reverse, the mark of the Flight & Barr period at Worcester (1792–1804).
Provenance
Private New York collection.
Condition
Both plates in good condition, with no damage, repair, or restoration; minor surface wear commensurate with age.
Historical Context
The Worcester factory entered its Flight & Barr period in 1792, when Martin Barr joined Joseph Flight in partnership, and pieces of these years are identified by the incised “B” mark seen here; the later partnerships of Barr, Flight & Barr (1804–13) and Flight, Barr & Barr (1813–40) used the impressed “BFB” and “FBB” marks. The Queen Charlotte pattern takes its inspiration from Japanese Imari export porcelain, with its bold radiating panels in underglaze blue, iron red, and gold, a style widely admired and copied in Europe and China. King George III and Queen Charlotte visited the Worcester factory in 1788, and the name Queen Charlotte came to be attached to this popular Imari design; it is distinct from the underglaze-blue Royal Lily...
Category
English George III Antique 1790s Porcelain
