Rare Derby Porcelain Blue & White Quatrefoil Tureen & Cover c.1768

A Derby porcelain blue and white painted cream / sauce tureen and cover of lobed quatrefoil shape and the knop formed from a cherry and shaped leaves and stem. Both rims edged with a cell border. Chinoiserie design with an ornate scene of fancy pagoda set on a shoreline surrounded by stylised trees and shrubs with phoenix type birds in the sky. Both sides with the same design and intersected on the short sides with sprays of peonies. Matching peony sprays decorate the cover and single peony also inside the base. Unmarked, c.1758.

Reference: Ceramics Of Derbyshire, Bradley, entry 205 for a tureen of this shape and design.

It measures 16.5cm (6 1/2") by 13.7cm (5 3/8") wide and 11.2cm (4 1/2") high.

In excellent condition with just a couple of minor points: the tip of one side of the cherry stem knop has been lost and two small nibble chips to the rim of the tureen and a further small nick in the glaze on the rim. A small firing fault to the edge of the cover where the glaze didn't take but it was decorated with the cell border so it is more felt than seen. Minimal handling wear. Slight bleeding of the design in places but this is a common issue with Derby blue and white and similarly some areas of the cell border on the tureen are quite faint but the glaze is fine so this is original from production and not surface wear.