'Mystery' historic porcelain expected to attract interest from international collectors
International interest is expected when 'mystery' porcelain from a historic county producer goes under the hammer later this year.
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Halls Fine Art in Shrewsbury is anticipating interest from international collectors when a “significant quantity” of Coalport ‘Animal Service’ porcelain is sold in October.
The seven dessert wares and one coffee cup and saucer are expected to fetch around £2,000 when they go under the hammer on October 9.
The Coalport pieces have been consigned from a private collector in Newport.
Entries for the auction at the company’s Battlefield saleroom close on September 6.
“Coalport’s ‘Animal Service’ remains something of a mystery to collectors, as it is not known who commissioned it, how large the service was and who decorated it,” said Caroline Dennard, Halls Fine Art’s ceramics specialist.
“The animal painting, from which this service takes its title, is inspired by Thomas Bewick's ‘A History of Quadrupeds’, published in 1800.
"The scope of potential inspiration was enormous, with more than 200 different woodcut engravings serving as sources for the decoration.
“Given that each piece features a single animal, it is likely that additional pieces will continue to be found as time passes.
"One of the lots in this auction was previously sold in London, but other pieces appear missing from modern attempts to list known examples and will animate collectors greatly.
“Furthermore, the service has only ever been known as a dessert service, so the revelation of a coffee can and saucer is very exciting.”
The most significant quantity of the ‘Animal Service’ to enter the market was sold in 1970 and purchased by the V&A Purchase Grant Fund before ending up with the Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery. Nine pieces offered at a Melbourne auction in 2009 now reside in the David Roche Collection in Adelaide.
“This current offering at Halls Fine Art is the most significant in terms of quantity to enter the market in recent years,” added Caroline.
“There are at least three different services using the same source exist. This auction includes examples from two – including one of which I would term the ‘deluxe’ edition with more expansive landscapes around the animals and richer gilding.”
Whilst the principal decorator is not definitively known, there is speculation that it night have been Charles Muss (1779-1824), son of Italian artist, Beneficio Muss.
He exhibited several works at the Royal Academy, including Dunkeld Castle in 1800 and produced an enamelled plaque with a named and dated view of the Coalport China Works in 1804.
