This large Bristol cylindrical mug with notched loop handle with two sprays of flowers and leaves, c.1773-75, is offered for £1600 at Albert Amor.
His became the first hard paste porcelain factory in England. The factory moved from Plymouth to Bristol in 1770, and, though it remained there for 10 years, Cookworthy sold it in 1773.
The pieces that resulted from the Bristol and Plymouth factories are both significant for their place in the history of British porcelain production and comparatively rare.
Couple’s collection
However, opening on October 3 at Albert Amor in London is the Creed Collection, a group of top Plymouth and Bristol pieces amassed by a British couple over 25 years.
The current catalogue focuses on blue and white, white and printed pieces, with two further catalogues on polychrome pieces to follow in 2024.
Eighty pieces feature in this initial group including coffee cups, teapots, sauceboats, figures and much more.
Pieces produced at the Plymouth factory often reflect technical issues. In the early days, legend has it, Cookworthy even painted one mug himself.
In the introduction to the catalogue, dealer Mark Law writes:
“With reference to the Plymouth porcelains in particular, the Creed Collection presents a rare, perhaps now unique, opportunity to compare and acquire the best ‘true’ porcelain that William Cookworthy produced at this short-lived factory - pieces free from the firing faults and blemishes that diminish many examples.”
The dealership has operated from St James’s for more than 100 years, and counts among its early Plymouth and Bristol porcelain exhibitions the Alfred Trapnell Collection in 1912.
In the foreword Law adds: “Although our website plays a more and more important part in our day to day business, I feel it is important to stage physical exhibitions of collections such as this, both for seasoned collectors, and to encourage a new generation to understand these fascinating objects.”
