Chelsea porcelain is the porcelain made by the Chelsea porcelain manufactory, the first important porcelain manufactory in England, established around 1743–45, and operating independently until 1770, when it was merged with Derby porcelain.[2] It made soft-paste porcelain throughout its history, though there were several changes in the "body" material and glaze used. Its wares were aimed at a luxury market, and its site in Chelsea, London, was close to the fashionable Ranelagh Gardens pleasure ground, opened in 1742.[3]
The first known wares are the "goat and bee" cream jugs with seated goats at the base, some examples of which are incised with "Chelsea", "1745" and a triangle.[4] The entrepreneurial director, at least from 1750, was Nicholas Sprimont, a Huguenot silversmith in Soho, but few private documents survive to aid a picture of the factory's history.[5] Early tablewares, being produced in profusion by 1750, depend on Meissen porcelain models and on silverware prototypes, such as salt cellars in the form of realistic shells.
Chelsea was known for its figures, initially mostly single standing figures of the Cries of London and other subjects. Many of these were very small by European standards, from about 2+1⁄2 to 3+1⁄2 inches (6 to 9 cm) high, overlapping with the category of "Chelsea Toys", for which the factory was famous in the 1750s and 1760s. These were very small pieces which often had metal mounts and were functional as bonbonnières (little boxes), scent bottles, needlecases, étuis, thimbles and small seals, many with inscriptions in French,[6] "almost invariably amorous suggestions",[7] but often misspelled.[8]
From about 1760, its inspiration was drawn more from Sèvres porcelain than Meissen, making grand garnitures of vases and elaborate large groups with seated couples in front of a bocage screen of flowering plants, all on a raised base of Rococo scrollwork. As with other English factories, much of the sales came from public auctions, held about once a year; copies of the catalogues for 1755, 1756 and (in part) 1761 are very useful to scholars.[9]
In 1770, the manufactory was purchased by William Duesbury, owner of the Derby porcelain factory, and the wares are indistinguishable during the "Chelsea-Derby period" that lasted until 1784,[10] when the Chelsea factory was demolished and its moulds, patterns and many of its workmen and artists transferred to Derby.[11]
^Honey, 60
^The Bow factory was granted a patent in 1744 but no examples of its wares predating the first works of Chelsea porcelain are known.
^Spero, 118
^Honey, 16
^Honey, 17–24
^Spero, 120; Honey, 76–80
^Honey, 78–80
^Honey, 76–78
^Lippert, 57–58
^Or at least, distinguished with great uncertainty and difficulty. See Honey, 144–152.
^Lippert, 58
and 26 Related for: Chelsea porcelain factory information
Chelseaporcelain is the porcelain made by the Chelseaporcelain manufactory, the first important porcelain manufactory in England, established around...
The Bow porcelainfactory (active c. 1747–64 and closed in 1776) was an emulative rival of the Chelseaporcelainfactory in the manufacture of early soft-paste...
catering company Chelsea Piers, a sports and entertainment complex in New York City, United States Chelseaporcelainfactory, a factory that was in London...
of porcelain to the market, financed by Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. The production of porcelain in the royal factory at...
William Duesbury (1725–1786), a porcelain painter formerly at Chelseaporcelainfactory and Longton Hall, and the banker John Heath. This was the foundation...
Limoges porcelain is hard-paste porcelain produced by factories in and around the city of Limoges, France, beginning in the late 18th century, by any...
figurines made by rival factories in Bow and Chelsea. It was common at the time that dealers purchased white glazed porcelain from various manufacturers...
for soft-paste porcelain which were later (after 1800) maintained widely. Although the Bow porcelainfactory, Chelseaporcelainfactory, Royal Worcester...
Verberckt,1738 Pair of rococo candelabra, by the Chelseaporcelainfactory, 18th century, soft-paste porcelain, Metropolitan Museum of Art Pair of Chinese...
personification of earth (classical element), by the ChelseaPorcelainFactory, c.1760-1770, porcelain, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, US Louis...
The Frankenthal PorcelainFactory (German: Porzellanmanufaktur Frankenthal) was one of the greatest porcelain manufacturers of Germany and operated in...
porcelain factory, c.1761, soft-paste porcelain and gilt bronze, Metropolitan Museum of Art Rococo - perfume vase, by the Chelseaporcelainfactory, c.1761...
or on-glaze decoration, is a method of decorating pottery, most often porcelain, where the coloured decoration is applied on top of the already fired...
Porcelain manufacturing companies are firms which manufacture porcelain. The table below lists European manufacturers of porcelain established before the...
Museum of Art, New York The Music Lesson; by the Chelseaporcelainfactory; c.1765; soft-paste porcelain; 39.1 × 31.1 × 22.2 cm; Metropolitan Museum of...
two other factories in Worcester, are known as Worcester porcelain. The enterprise has followed the pattern of other leading English porcelain brands, with...
painter of porcelain, who became an important porcelain entrepreneur, founder of the Royal Crown Derby and owner of porcelainfactories at Bow, Chelsea, Derby...
Rococo personifications of Classical elements; 1760s; by the Chelseaporcelainfactory; Indianapolis Museum of Art (Indianapolis, USA) Sculpture is three-dimensional...
Britain, as attested by the lively figurine of a negro from the Chelseaporcelainfactory which appeared in its Aesop series in the mid-18th century. It...
other early English factories in a style known as Chinoiserie. Chelseaporcelain and Bow porcelain in London and Lowestoft porcelain in East Anglia made...
England, (18th century) Pair of so-called Cleopatra Vases from the Chelseaporcelainfactory, London, England, (1763) Jaspar ware vase known as the Pegasus...
became standard at the Bow porcelainfactory in London (operating from around 1747), and spread to some other English factories. The modern product was developed...
though his rivals at the Chelseaporcelainfactory seem to have preceded him in bringing wares to market. The Bow porcelain works did not long survive...