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Spoon tray

Spoon tray

ca. 1772-75

The porcelain formula of Worcester was different from other early English porcelain: it contained "soapy rock" (or soapstone) combined with ball clay and sand. The addition of soapstone made the porcelain resistant to crazing and cracking, which gave the Worcester manufactory a distinct advantage over its competitors when producing tea and coffee equipages.
Soft paste porcelain
L.: 6 1/8 in.
Kenneth and Priscilla Klepser Porcelain Collection
94.103.130
Provenance: Originally in the collection of the Duchess of Kent, mother of Queen Victoria; formerly in the Thomas Berners and Robert Drane Collections; the Eckstein Collection, until 1949; [Sotheby’s, London, 29 March, 1949]; ]; [purchased by Mr T. Leonard Crow, Tewkesbury, England, on behalf of Mr and Mrs Kenneth and Priscilla Klepser, 1949-1994 (cf. Mr Crow’s letter dated April 1, 1949 to Mr Klepser)]; gift from Mr and Mrs Kenneth and Priscilla Klepser to Seattle Art Museum, Washington, 1994
location
Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Worcester Porcelain: The Klepser Collection, August 8, 1985-September 22, 1985. 1984-85 circuit included: Minneapolis, MN, Minneapolis Institute of Art; San Francisco, CA, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Atlanta, GA, High Museum of Art; Sarasota, FL, Ringling Museum of Art.

Published ReferencesSpero, Simon. Worcester Porcelain: The Klepser Collection. London: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts in association with Lund Humphries Publishers, 1984, p. 118, no. 130, illus. (b&w p. 118; color pl. 32), Letters 13 & 14, Feb 26 & April 1, 1949

Sotheby’s. Catalogue of the important collection of fine old English pottery and porcelain. Auction catalogue, 29 March 1949.

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