Derby Porcelain in the 18th and early 19th centuries

Image: Derby Oval Dish, c 1760. The dish has a moulded trellis border painted with butterflies. The centre is painted with fruit and insects.

Image from: Bantock House, Wolverhampton

Text: Olga Baird

Summary

Derby, like Worcester and the Potteries district of North Staffordshire was home to an important centre of ceramics manufacture during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Under its first “china maker” André Planche, the Nottingham Road factory produced ornamental ware such as vases and figures because the soft paste that was used could not withstand boiling water and was therefore unsuitable for tableware. The paste, though, was ideal for delicate modelling and the Derby factory produced highly decorated pieces imitating French Rococo and other continental styles as well as scenes which reflected British rural and theatrical life. In the 1756, Planche entered a partnership with William Duesbury and the business developed a new paste which contained glass, soaprock and calcined animal bone. This enabled the factory to produce high-quality tableware.

This article by Olga Baird explores the origins of Crown Derby Porcelain and presents several examples of the ornamental products and tableware produced by the factory from the 1750s until the 1820s. The images in the exhibition are taken from slides of items held by Derby Museum & Art Gallery (www.derby.gov.uk/museums).