A DERBY (DUESBURY & KEAN) BOTANICAL YELLOW-GROUND PART DESSERT SERVICE

CIRCA 1800, BLUE CROWN, CROSSED BATONS AND D MARKS, PATTERN NO. 311, PAINTED IN THE MANNER OF JOHN BREWER

Details

A DERBY (DUESBURY & KEAN) BOTANICAL YELLOW-GROUND PART DESSERT SERVICE
Circa 1800, blue crown, crossed batons and D marks, pattern no. 311, painted in the manner of John Brewer
Painted with specimen flowers, named on the reverses in Latin and English, the wells gilt with stylized pendant ornament, within bright yellow borders between gilt lines, comprising:
A navette-shaped footed compote, 13in. (33.7cm.) wide
Two navette-shaped two-handled sauce tureens, covers and stands, 9.3/8in. (23.8cm.) wide, the stands
Two scalloped oval dishes, 11.5/8in. (29.5cm.) wide
Two kidney-shaped dishes, 9in. (24.8cm.) wide
Four shell-shaped dishes, 9in. (24.8cm.) wide
Four fluted lozenge-shaped dishes, 10.7/8in. (27.6cm.) wide
Twenty-two plates with spiral-fluted borders, 9in. (22.8cm.) diam. (41)

Provenance

Anon. sale; Christie's London, 20 May 1991, lot 267

Lot Essay

Although there is no question that the specimen flowers on the present service are based on images found in the Curtis Botanical Magazine, it is not possible to identify with 100 certainty the identity of the Derby painter who executed the present examples.

Cf. John Stanley Clarke, 'Curtis Botanical Magazine and the Derby Botanical Dessert Services', Antique Collecting, November 1983 for a discussion of the various Derby botanical painters; Martin C.F. Mortimer, 'Quaker' Pegg's first period?', The Connoisseur, January 1979, pp. 22-27 for a detailed comparison of the work of 'Quaker' Pegg and John Brewer; and Anon. sale, Christie's London, 9 October 1989, lot 321 for a similar Derby yellow-ground botanical part dessert service.