Miles Mason Porcelain Teacup Trio Boy at the Door Pattern Chinoiserie circa 1805

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Miles Mason Porcelain Teacup Trio Boy at the Door Pattern Chinoiserie circa 1805

About the Item

This is a very wonderful "true trio" with the famous "Boy at the Door" pattern, made by Miles Mason, circa 1805. A true trio is how cups and saucers were sold in the late 18th and early 19th century: as you would never drink tea and coffee at the same time, why invest in an extra saucer? So the teacup and coffee cup share the same saucer. Miles Mason was one of the early ones of the second wave of British porcelain makers, alongside Spode and others. Mason was a prominent porcelain retailer in London at the time that most porcelain came from China, imported by the East India Company. When those imports stopped in 1791 (due to the racketeering at the porcelain auctions by Mason and his fellow dealers), he seized the opportunity and started to experiment in making his own porcelain. By the early 1800s, Mason had developed both very strong ironstone, and an early form of bone china. Mason copied the Chinese designs he used to import, and became famous for large chinoiserie dinner and dessert wares made of "Patent Ironstone". This set would have been part of a large tea service. It is made of very fine early porcelain that is slightly greyish, and it is decorated with a very charming chinoiserie pattern called "Boy at the Door". A woman is seated at a table with one boy offering her flowers, a little boy watching nearby, and another boy standing in the doorway of a pagoda behind her. The garden scene is idyllic and across the river you can see some large buildings that look quite Western - it could be one of the trading posts, which were often depicted on Chinese Export porcelain as well as the early English chinoiserie patterns. This pattern has been done in several variations by many factories; the most famous one is the one New Hall did, which is called "Boy in the Window" with the boy not standing at a doorway but peeking out of an open window. In each version (Worcester, Grainger, Herculaneum and several others) the scene is different and the boys and their mother are engaged in different pursuits, from writing to playing with a bird. These chinoiserie patterns were often made because some of the more conservative British public didn't warm immediately to the newfangled English patterns, but wanted to see the same decorations they had been used to until the mid-1790s, when the porcelain import from China came to an end. So British porcelain artists scrambled to copy the old Chinese patterns and create new ones. This particular pattern probably was never one original Chinese pattern; it is more likely that several elements of popular Chinese patterns were thrown together and each factory made their own version, which then acquired the names afterwards. There is much more to see: the rims of the saucer are wonderfully painted in brown in the Chinese "famille rose" pattern with Rococo scroll reserves with the river landscape. There is another wonderful green and pink detail on the cups. All three items are finished with a brown rim; there is no gilt. What is interesting about the painting style is that the saucer and teacup have been painted very precisely in a clear attempt to imitate the Chinese free-flowing style, but as usual looking a little more studied as English painters didn't have the same skill to paint freely. However, the coffee cup was either painted by an apprentice with less skill, or perhaps it simply wasn't finished as most faces have no mouth, eyes or nose, and the tree has no definition. These cups would belong to huge tea services that were often ordered on a deadline, so it could have been rushed through by leaving it to an apprentice, or leaving it unfinished altogether. Another nice detail is that while you can tell that the artists really tried to paint Chinese figures, they have very English faces. In those days, ordinary English people would have never seen an oriental face in their lives, so they would have no idea how to paint one. The set is unmarked as was common at the time. Condition report: The set is in excellent antique condition without any damage, repairs or crazing, and only minimal wear as visible in the pictures. There is a rather charming production fault near the rim of the coffee cup, as visible in the last picture. Antique British porcelain is never perfect. Kilns were fired on coal in the 1800s, and this meant that china from that period can have some firing specks from flying particles. British makers were also known for their experimentation, and sometimes this resulted in technically imperfect results. Due to the shrinkage in the kiln, items can have small firing lines or develop crazing over time, which should not be seen as damage but as an imperfection of the maker's recipes, probably unknown at the time of making. Items have often been used for many years and can have normal signs of wear, and gilt can have signs of slight disintegration even if never handled. I will reflect any damage, repairs, obvious stress marks, crazing or heavy wear in the item description but some minor scratches, nicks, stains and gilt disintegration can be normal for vintage items and need to be taken into account. There is widespread confusion on the internet about the difference between chips and nicks, or hairlines and cracks. I will reflect any damage as truthfully as I can, i.e. a nick is a tiny bit of damage smaller than 1mm and a chip is something you can easily see with the eye; a glazing line is a break in the glazing only; hairline is extremely tight and/or superficial and not picked up by the finger; and a crack is obvious both to the eye and the finger. Dimensions: (diameters) teacup 8cm (3.2"), coffee can 7cm (2.75"), saucer 13.6cm (5.4").

Creator:
Miles Mason Porcelain (Maker)
Dimensions:
Height: 1 in (2.54 cm)Width: 1 in (2.54 cm)Length: 1 in (2.54 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 3
Style:
Chinoiserie (In the Style Of)
Materials and Techniques:
Porcelain,Hand-Painted
Place of Origin:
England
Period:
1800-1809
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1805
Condition:
In excellent antique condition without any damage, crazing or repairs and very minimal wear, as visible in the pictures. A little production fault on the inside of the coffee cup.
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: A-MAS041stDibs: LU4805119170562