Teapot and Cover thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 139, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Teapot and Cover

1765-1769 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Teapot and cover of soft-paste porcelain painted with puce enamel and gilded. Gilt edges.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Teapot
  • Cover
Materials and techniques
Soft-paste porcelain painted with puce enamel and gilded
Brief description
Teapot and cover of soft-paste porcelain painted with puce enamel and gilded, painting attributed to F. Duvivier, possibly made by Chelsea Porcelain factory, Chelsea, 1765-1769
Physical description
Teapot and cover of soft-paste porcelain painted with puce enamel and gilded. Gilt edges.
Dimensions
  • Height: 11.7cm
Marks and inscriptions
An anchor (In gold)
Production
Items from this service have previously been attributed to the Tournai and Derby porcelain factories. Geoffrey Goodden, in his 2004 book on New Hall quotes an entry in a Christie's auction catalogue of April 1786, which included a 'most capital tea and coffee equipage of rich crimson and gold curiously painted in figures by the ingenious Mr Devivi, no other set of this colour was ever made, and the art is entirely lost since Mr Sprimont's decease'. According to a manuscript note in the copy of the catalogue in Christie's archives the 'Chelsea Porcelane [was] decreed to be the property of Mr Thomas, decd by Court of Chancery' and the set was sold for £30 19s 6d by 'Stevens' (information kinldy provided by Lynda McLeod and Jodie Wilkie of Christie's); the manager at Chelsea was a man named Francis Thomas, who is thought to have been dishonest in his dealings with Sprimont and appropriated wares or monies for himself (Elizabeth Adams, Chelsea Porcelain, 2001, p. 179). Godden argues that the teapot was from this service, and that it is of Chelsea porcelain. Nicholas Sprimont, the owner and manager of the Chelsea factory died in 1771, having sold the works in 1769. In October 1769 Fidelle Duvivier signed a year contract to paint porcelain for William Duesbury of the Derby porcelain factory, and he was still in Derby in March 1771, when a son of his was born. If the teapot belonged to the service sold in 1786, it would need to date from the later 1760s. Two plates with related designs were sold Christie's New York 27 October 2015.
Subjects depicted
Collection
Accession number
C.204:1, 2-1985

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Record createdMarch 16, 1999
Record URL
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