Figs. 626 to 628.
At the present hour the productions of the Coalport works take a foremost rank among the best porcelain of the kingdom; many of the specialities of this firm being marvels of beauty; the colours pure and full, and of extreme richness. Sardinian green—a colour for the extreme depth and richness of which these works are celebrated—is introduced with remarkable effect both in services and otherwise. One of the finest pieces of this colour is a tripod wine goblet, with flowers in tablets, and raised and jewelled gold borders. A lighter shade of this fine green is introduced, with tablets of flowers and Westbourne birds, with great effect on two-handled goblets, &c. Rose du Barry has always been a speciality of the Coalport works, and a colour on the excellence of which its proprietors, especially the late clever and enlightened Mr. W. F. Rose, have always prided themselves. This is used as a ground in every conceivable variety of decoration, and when enriched with raised dead and burnished gold, and with the exquisite painting by which it is usually accompanied, has a remarkably rich and chaste effect. A new jardinière, with pierced key top and Sèvres fruit and flowers, is one of the prettiest examples of this colour, combined with raised gold and flowers, which has been produced. One of the finest and most massive pieces in this colour is a claret jug, with raised gold vine-leaves and grapes and other decorations, and splendidly painted on one side with the head of a bacchante and on the other a bunch of grapes. A pink, or light Rose du Barry, is also much used as a ground for pilgrims’ bottles, vases, services, &c., where, for some kinds of decoration, it harmonizes better than the full colour would. A blue with a slightly purplish cast, which gives it an additional richness and fulness, has been introduced, and forms a splendid ground for Japanese decoration in vases, pilgrims’ bottles, &c., in which style of now very fashionable decoration the Coalport artists excel. In these Japanese patterns some of the designs are unusually elaborate and intricate, and the workmanship is characterized by extreme precision and regularity, while the gilding and colour, especially the deep reds and blues, are rich and full in the extreme. Some of the vases in this style vie with those of the native art of the Japanese, and are not excelled by any other house. The principal artists employed at the present time at the works are Mr. Charles Palmere, Mr. Cooke, Mr. John Randall, Mr. Birbeck, Mr. A. Bowdler, Mr. J. Hartshorne, and Mr. Jabez Aston; and among those formerly engaged here was Mr. R. F. Abraham, a student of Antwerp and Paris and a successful follower of the school of Etty. Modellers of a very high class in their respective branches are also employed, and the excellence of their work is apparent in all the higher class productions of this establishment.
C C’ C C C S S Sx Sx So S S
Figs. 629 to 640.
The marks used by the Caughley works have already been fully described.[84] After the removal of these works to Coalport, the same letters, both C and S, for many years were used. At Coalport, however, marks have been adopted, perhaps, more sparingly than at any other works; and the great bulk of the goods have been manufactured, from the first down to the present time, without any mark at all. On some examples of the early part of the present century, the written name of “Coalport,” thus—Coalport
—appears; but these are of very rare occurrence. Another mark, adopted somewhat later, though only used very sparingly, was simply the letters
