Penrose Antiques

Description

For sale we have the perfect Christmas present for the collector of pre-Royal Worcester porcelain, a lovely Chamberlain & Co Worcester cabinet plate.

The plate is decorated in hand painted enamels depicting a central study of flowers surrounded by a yellow, cobalt blue and gilded scroll work border. The plate carries the Chaberlain & Co Worcester mark for 1840-1851.

The plate is 9 & 3/8 inches in diameter and is in a very good antique condition with no chips cracks or repairs, although there is a little bit of wear to some of the gilt.

Robert Chamberlain, the head of the decorating department for Dr John Wall the founder of the Worcester porcelain company, established his own company at Warmstry House, King Street, Worcester. This new company initially painted blanks manufactured by other companies, but steadily expanded into the manufacture of his own wares. By the Regency period Chamberlain Worcester had acquired some fame for the very quality of his hand painted porcelain. His clients included Lord Nelson, and also the Prince Regent who granted the company his Royal Warrant in 1807. Chamberlain's success was reflected in the way that he sold his wares via his shop 33 Worcester High Street and via his fashionable London show room, initial set up at no 63 Piccadilly but eventually moving to 155 New Bond Street in 1816. Needless to say Chamberlain porcelain became a significant rival of Flight Bar and Worcester.

By the early mid 1800s competition and changes in the economic climate meant that the ceramics industry had continued to change. To accommodate this change Chamberlain merged with Flight, Barr & Barr, giving rise to Chamberlain & Co in 1840. The new company continued to produce very high quality hand painted porcelain until 1851. In 1851 Walter Chamberlain retired and the company was taken over by the Dublin business man William Kerr. Kerr invested heavily in modernizing the Chamberlain factory and building up an extremely talented team. Kerr returned to Ireland in 1862 leaving the company in the hands of Richard Binn, who formed The Worcester Royal Porcelain Co. Ltd, which of course evolved int Royal Worcester.