Collecting Chintz China
Chintz china first appeared in the 1820s in Staffordshire when some of the designers copied the colourful floral displays onto china. The initial method was very slow because they used transfer printing. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that Leonard and Sidney Grimwade hit on the method of fixing lithographic transfer prints onto china both, above and below the glaze. This meant that Chintz china could now be mass-produced. It is said that Queen Mary was very fond of Chintz china and she purchased a set for her own use.
The first pattern to become really popular was Marguerite which was made up of white daisies, bluebells and yellow flowers. It was made by the Grimwade brothers at the Winton pottery in 1928. Other popular patterns were made at Crown Ducal by A.G. Richardson, including Blue Chintz, Florida and Festival. Many of these pieces were exported to America and Chintz china is still very popular in America today, as well as Canada and Australia. Continue reading »
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Billingsley and Pegg, together with Moses Webster were in the forefront of painting flowers on china and soon gained a reputation for being among the finest artists of the era. The usual method was to paint flowers onto plain white glaze but Billingsley would paint the whole of the surface and then create the design by brushing out small areas of colour and then adding extra paint. Boreman’s inspiration was the wild Derbyshire countryside and he would paint topographical landscapes onto china objects. Many of these pieces have survived and can be seen at the Royal Crown Derby museum at the factory.
The Derby factory has put out a number of limited edition series and many of them are hand-painted. Not being slow in following a current trend they commissioned a series of plates depicting Jane Austen’s favourite flowers as well as something to remember Mr Darcy by, namely a vase named after his estate at Pemberley, from the popular Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice. Continue reading »
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