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Lot Essay
Cf. Bernard Rackham and Herbert Read, English Pottery, Its Development from Early Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century (London, 1926), pl. CVI, fig. 192 for an identical example from the renowned Henry C. Embleton Collection. See also the examples in these Rooms, the first sold by order of the Trustees of the W.A.H. Harding Trust, 6th December 1982, lot 135 and the three-tiered centrepiece sold, anon., these Rooms 3rd June 1996, lot 7.
These graceful and elaborate centre-pieces or Gran Platt Menage were intended to serve candied fruits and sweetmeats for the 'desert' and was a popular and eye-catching part of any entertainment. The attribution to the Leeds pottery is a traditional one popularised by the noted authors on the subject such as J.R. and F. Kidson. The use of shell motifs in the designs of these sweetmeat-stands both large and small is seen throughout the 18th century from delftware to the porcelain examples made at Bow, Worcester and Derby among others. However few come close to the scale and simple elegance of these plain creamware examples from the late 18th century.
These graceful and elaborate centre-pieces or Gran Platt Menage were intended to serve candied fruits and sweetmeats for the 'desert' and was a popular and eye-catching part of any entertainment. The attribution to the Leeds pottery is a traditional one popularised by the noted authors on the subject such as J.R. and F. Kidson. The use of shell motifs in the designs of these sweetmeat-stands both large and small is seen throughout the 18th century from delftware to the porcelain examples made at Bow, Worcester and Derby among others. However few come close to the scale and simple elegance of these plain creamware examples from the late 18th century.