Lot Essay
A number of Nantgarw services with this kind of decoration are known. One was originally in the possession of the Priest Richards family of 'Pls Newydd', near Cowbridge. In 1880, it was given to Ella Priest Richards on the occasion of her marriage to the Mackintosh of Mackintosh. Three such services are discussed by W.D. John and Katherine Coombes, Nantgarw Porcelain, Supplement Number Two, The Mackintosh Services with Exotic Bird Decoration, Newport, 1969. All are thought to have been ordered by Mortlocks from the decorators Robbins and Randall of Barnsbury Street, Islington and the bird painting probably by Thomas Martin Randall.