Lowestoft Porcelain Teapot – Chinoiserie Pattern – c1765

Description

Heading : Lowestoft Porcelain Teapot – Chinoiserie Pattern
Date : c1762-1770
Period : George III
Marks : none
Origin : Lowestoft. England
Colour : Underglaze blue
Pattern : an unnamed Chinoiserie pattern featuring all the usual elements – bridges. islands. a temple. a house. trees. boats and birds; see below
Condition : Excellent; some tiny nibbles to the very tip of the spout; a small firing crack to the foot-string and one very small nick on the top of the neck; some patches of glaze missing from this same feature and to the bottom of the lid flange; tiny flaked chip to the foot-string which has been reapplied
Restoration : foot-string chip as above
Dimensions : 14.7 cm high – 18.7 cm tip of spout to rear of handle
Weight : 372 grams

Notes : The identification of this piece as having come from Lowestoft has been made on accumulated weight of evidence rather than a definitive match with other documented pieces; features such as the finial on the temple roof. the angular rather than curved bridge and the fact that the ‘shaded’ side of the house is on the left as you look at it are all Lowestoft design features – as is the layout of the seven holes at the internal base of the spout; the most telling piece of evidence. however. is the semi-circular border pattern around the base of the neck and the lip of the lid. This is identified by Geoffrey Godden. as referenced below – but even here it is only said to be “an almost sure indication of a Lowestoft origin” which “normally indicates a date” within the range quoted above. 

References: Lowestoft Porcelains (Geoffrey Godden; 1969) page 71