The Home Beautiful: The Chelsea Turkish Table Figure, 1755

Figure
Chelsea Porcelain Factory, 1755
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In the Eighteenth Century, in response to the popular dessert table figure groups made in France and Germany, Britain’s Chelsea Factory began making their own sets of porcelain figures designed to be brought out with the dessert course during a stylish meal in a wealthy household.

In Britain, in 1755, when this figure and its companions were made, porcelains depicting people in Turkish dress were highly fashionable.   The Meissen factory in Germany was the first to make porcelain figures of Turks. Those figures were quickly copied by the English porcelain factories in Staffordshire and Chelsea. The Chelsea porcelain factory copied the figure pictured here from a Meissen example modelled by Johann Friedrich Eberlein (1695-1749) in 1746.  This figure was part of a group meant for a dessert table.

Horace Walpole wrote of this decorative phenomenon in 1753 that displays of sugar plums and other confectionery had “long given way to harlequins, gondoliers, Turks, Chinese, and sheperdesses of Saxon china.”


This set is unique in that it wasn't just purely decorative, but useful.  The shell-shaped dishes attached to each figure would have served to hold candies, nuts or small pastries.

Gifts of Grandeur: The Rabbit Bonbonière, c. 1759

Candy Box
Chelsea Porcelain Factory
c. 1759
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in London, this bonbonnière of porcelain has been modeled after a mama rabbit with her babies. The attached cover of copper is painted with enamels and a gilt metal mount. Inside the cover, sprays of flowers have also been painted. 

The rabbits are moulded in full relief. These, too, are painted with enamels. Such an exquisite box was meant to hold candies and sugared fruit. It was made between 1759 and 1769 by the Chelsea Porcelain Factory.

To Serve and Project: The Chelsea Chinaman Teapot, 1745-9

Teapot
Chelsea Porcelain Factory
1745-1749
The Victoria & Albert Museum 

The Chelsea porcelain factory, in its early years, produced several examples of novelty teapots in unusual shapes.  Here’s a rather interesting example of these early pieces.  Dating to about 1745, this rare teapot takes the form of a squatting Asian gentleman which the factory insensitively called a “chinaman.”  He is clutching a parrot—as one does.  This model was actually an experimental form.  Only a few were produced.  The design just didn’t work out for a variety of reasons.  His hat formed the lid of the pot and it proved to be very cumbersome when used.  Furthermore, the twig handle—applied with soft-paste porcelain leaves and berries—was uncomfortable in the hand. 

Teapots like this one were Chelsea’s answer to the novelty figurines and teapots which were produced at the Staffordshire factory.  The Staffordshire pieces were quite popular and proved to be very fashionable, so Chelsea wanted in on the action.

Another influence was the range of Grotesque (fancifully decorated) porcelain teapots made in France at Saint-Cloud.  The then-manager of the Chelsea factory, Nicholas Sprimont (1716-1771), was very familiar with the Saint-Cloud Grotesques.  Those French examples were of the finest porcelains, bright white and very glossy.  The Chelsea porcelain paste of this era was much less refined and could not compete with the French and Staffordshire wares.  

Gifts of Grandeur: The Rabbit Bonbonière, c. 1759

Candy Box
Chelsea Porcelain Factory
c. 1759
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in London, this bonbonnière of porcelain has been modeled after a mama rabbit with her babies. The attached cover of copper is painted with enamels and a gilt metal mount. Inside the cover, sprays of flowers have also been painted. The rabbits are moulded in full relief. These, too, are painted with enamels. Such an exquisite box was meant to hold candies and sugared fruit. It was made between 1759 and 1769 by the Chelsea Porcelain Factory.

Figure of the Day: Phyllis and Strephon from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Iolanthe," 1924

Figure Group from "Iolanthe"
Chelsea, 1924
The Victoria & Albert Museum

These hard-paste porcelain figures, painted in enamel colors, depict “Phyllis and Strephon,” characters from Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera “Iolanthe,” (a name which refers to the color of lilacs) as they were portrayed in 1924 by Sydney Granville (1880-1959) and Winifred Lawson in the famed D'Oyly Carte Company’s production of the show at London's Prince's Theatre.

The costumes for the production, designed by Norman Wilkinson, were inspired by the painted apparel of 18th Century pastoral-themed porcelain figurines. This fact became part of the advertising campaign for the show which touted Miss Lawson as having the beauty of a piece of china.

That advertisement became, in turn, the inspiration for this 1924 figure group which was made by Ethel Sleigh and Phyllis Simpson of the Potters' Guild in Chelsea, England. 

Figures of the Day: The Chelsea Dessert Figures, 1758-69

Click on image to enlarge.
Porcelain Dessert Figures
Joseph Willems for
The Chelsea Porcelain Factory
England, 1758-69
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This handsome pair of porcelain figures represents a gardener and his wife. Like many figures of the Eighteenth Century, these were made to be presented on the dining table during the dessert course. Most were purely decorative—meant to show the wealth and prestige of the household, but sometimes, they were given a purpose. These figures are a great example of that. They hold baskets which would have been employed as a means of serving dry sweetmeats—candied fruit, chocolates, nuts, small biscuits, raisins or other dried fruit.

Typically, these figures, like the ones we see here, depicted idealized representations of gardeners, shepherds and shepherdesses. They were not usually shown in the sort of clothes such people would have really worn, but rather, were depicted as being very fashionably dressed. Often, in the wealthiest homes, lush garden scenes were recreated as an expensive novelty on the dinner table.

The pair we see here, dating to between 1758 and 1769, are the work of the Chelsea Porcelain Factory which produced pieces for the upscale clientele who could have afforded such luxurious pieces. Joseph Willems (1710 – 1766) was probably the modeler.

Figure of the Day: A Table Figurine, 1755

Table Figurine
Chelsea Porcelain Factory
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In the Eighteenth Century, as we’ve discussed, lavish sets of porcelain figures were made to adorn the dining tables of wealthy households during the dessert course.  These sets and pairs of porcelain figures usually depicted young men and women, usually in pastoral or in theatrical Turkish dress.

The Meissen factory in Germany was the first to make porcelain figures of Turks. These figures  were quickly copied by the English porcelain factories and some were also made in Staffordshire salt-glazed stoneware.

The figure we see above was made by the Chelsea porcelain factory in London and was copied from Meissen figures modelled by Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1776).  These figures would have flanked a third which contained a shell-shaped dish (which we’ve looked at before) which would have held sweet-meats or sugared plums.  

The Home Beautiful: The Chelsea Turkish Table Figure, 1755

Figure
Chelsea Porcelain Factory, 1755
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In the Eighteenth Century, in response to the popular dessert table figure groups made in France and Germany, Britain’s Chelsea Factory began making their own sets of porcelain figures designed to be brought out with the dessert course during a stylish meal in a wealthy household.

In Britain, in 1755, when this figure and its companions were made, porcelains depicting people in Turkish dress were highly fashionable.   The Meissen factory in Germany was the first to make porcelain figures of Turks. Those figures were quickly copied by the English porcelain factories in Staffordshire and Chelsea. The Chelsea porcelain factory copied the figure pictured here from a Meissen example modelled by Johann Friedrich Eberlein (1695-1749) in 1746.  This figure was part of a group meant for a dessert table.

Horace Walpole wrote of this decorative phenomenon in 1753 that displays of sugar plums and other confectionery had “long given way to harlequins, gondoliers, Turks, Chinese, and sheperdesses of Saxon china.”


This set is unique in that it wasn't just purely decorative, but useful.  The shell-shaped dishes attached to each figure would have served to hold candies, nuts or small pastries.

To Serve and Project: The Chelsea Chinaman Teapot, 1745-9

Teapot
Chelsea Porcelain Factory
1745-1749
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The Chelsea porcelain factory, in its early years, produced several examples of novelty teapots in unusual shapes.  Here’s a rather interesting example of these early pieces.  Dating to about 1745, this rare teapot takes the form of a squatting Asian gentleman which the factory insensitively called a “chinaman.”  He is clutching a parrot—as one does.  This model was actually an experimental form.  Only a few were produced.  The design just didn’t work out for a variety of reasons.  His hat formed the lid of the pot and it proved to be very cumbersome when used.  Furthermore, the twig handle—applied with soft-paste porcelain leaves and berries—was uncomfortable in the hand. 

Teapots like this one were Chelsea’s answer to the novelty figurines and teapots which were produced at the Staffordshire factory.  The Staffordshire pieces were quite popular and proved to be very fashionable, so Chelsea wanted in on the action.

Another influence was the range of Grotesque (fancifully decorated) porcelain teapots made in France at Saint-Cloud.  The then-manager of the Chelsea factory, Nicholas Sprimont (1716-1771), was very familiar with the Saint-Cloud Grotesques.  Those French examples were of the finest porcelains, bright white and very glossy.  The Chelsea porcelain paste of this era was much less refined and could not compete with the French and Staffordshire wares.  

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Foundling Vase, 1762

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This elaborate vessel is known as “The Foundling Vase” because it was presented in 1763, a year after it was made, to the Foundling Hospital in London. The Foundling Hospital housed Britain's first public art gallery, and the vase was given for public display by Dr. George Garnier.

The vase was made at the Chelsea porcelain factory in London. A work of soft-paste porcelain, it is painted in enamel colors in reserves on a Mazarine blue ground. Gilt details add further luster.

This was made as one of a pair, however, the two were separated soon after creation. Its mate, now known as the Chesterfield Vase, remained unsold at the Chelsea factory, until 1770 when it was purchased by the Earl of Chesterfield.

The Foundling Vase remained on display at the Foundling Hospital until 1869, when it was sold for £1,500 to the Earl of Dudley who had already bought its companion for “upwards of £2,000” from the Earl of Chesterfield. Both are now in the collection of the V&A.

The pair was inspired by Sévres porcelain vases of the era. The Chelsea Factory adapted visual themes from Sévres in this piece, including the elaboration of the Rococo scrollwork handles, the tooled gilding, the “mazarine” blue ground and the richly-enameled panels.