Neale & Co

Exceptional Lot of Georgian Table Service in Fine Creamware — Neale & Co. - Pattern Puce Moulded Feather-Edge & The Peacock and Exotic Bird Scene, c. 1780–1785 1. EXCLUSIVITY AND HERITAGE VALUE OF THE SET The present lot constitutes a material testimony of exceptional rarity within the landscape of high European ceramics of the last third of the 18th century. The exclusivity of this table service — officially classified under the edge model Moulded Feather-Edge with the central chalcographic pattern The Peacock and Exotic Bird Scene — does not reside solely in its notable antiquity of almost two and a half centuries, but in the confluence of three critical factors highly valued by international collecting circles and museum institutions: • The integrity and survival of the set: In the antiques market of the Georgian era, the finding of loose pieces is the norm, whereas the unified preservation of a table service — which integrates its original sauce tureen with stand, service platters of different scales, and soup plates — is an absolutely anomalous fact. This set has survived united through generations, maintaining intact its formal cohesion, its implicit provenance, and the aesthetic synergy of the original design. • Absolute rarity of the country iconography (The Peacock and Exotic Bird Scene): While the vast majority of the surviving production in carmine (puce) tone from Neale & Co. exhibits classical ruin landscapes of neoclassical style or heraldic motifs, this naturalistic pattern starred by peacocks represents one of the most scarce, elusive, and coveted decorative variants of the firm. Its meticulous stroke elevates this set to the category of a museum-quality display piece. • Documentary richness and certified authenticity: The lot is presented as an irreproducible pre-industrial historical document. The coexistence in the same set of pieces with the main factory mark, along with pieces bearing workman marks and shared moulds from the Staffordshire area, and pieces strategically exempt from a signature according to the operational practices of the era, offers an inestimable academic value for the study of manufacturing techniques of the late 18th century. In short, we find ourselves before a genuine work of ceramic art from Georgian England, whose patina and marks of time consolidate its genuine character and its indubitable appeal as a heritage investment. 2. HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE MANUFACTORY The manufactory was founded by James Neale in Hanley, Staffordshire (England). It operated under the prestigious name of Neale & Co. exactly between 1778 and 1786. Neale assumed control of the factory after the financial difficulties of his partner and brother-in-law, Humphrey Palmer. Far from being a simple imitator, the firm achieved such an extraordinary technical level in the production of fine earthenware (creamware and pearlware) that it became the most respectable and direct rival to the famous Wedgwood factory. Precisely, the technological characteristics of this lot allow narrowing its dating to an exact window between 1780 and 1785. During this five-year period, the factory refined the components of its fine earthenware (creamware), abandoning the dense yellowish tones of the previous decade to achieve the clear, translucent, and luminous paste exhibited by this set. 3. THE PRACTICE OF MARKING IN THE 18TH CENTURY In pre-industrial productions of the Georgian era, it was the usual norm that not all pieces of a dinner service were signed. Stamping the incised mark implied an extra step in the workshop before firing. For reasons of time economy, manufactories marked only medium-scale pieces or the standard plates of the batch. Large-sized platters or three-dimensional standalone elements were frequently left plain, given that their belonging to the set was guaranteed by being served in a unified manner on the table alongside the elements that did bear the factory mark. 4. TECHNICAL ATTRIBUTION AND MATERIALS • Manufactory: Neale & Co. (Direction of James Neale). • Origin: Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. • Paste Typology: Fine cream-coloured earthenware (Creamware genuine from high era). Warm-toned clay paste with transparent lead vitrified glaze, characterized by a fine, uniform, and natural crazing due to the physical aging of the chemical components (crazing). 5. TECHNOLOGICAL AND DECORATIVE ANALYSIS (MIXED NATURE) The set presents the classic mixed decoration of Staffordshire executed in two differentiated technological phases using metallic oxides in a purplish carmine tone (historical colour puce): • Central Scene (Transfer-Printing - Bat-Printing / Underglaze): Executed underglaze with an introduction date in the workshop around 1780. The official naturalistic motif, named The Peacock and Exotic Bird Scene, was transferred to the raw paste using flexible gelatin pads (bats). This cutting-edge technique took the oil ink and metallic oxides directly from copper plates engraved by hand in reverse, guaranteeing a micrometric precision in the line work and the plumage of the birds that would be impossible to achieve with traditional transfer methods. • Perimeter Edge (Hand-Painted - Hand-Painted / Sponged Overglaze): Executed overglaze. The scalloped organic relief simulating the barbs of a bird feather (Moulded Feather-Edge) is individually outlined by a workshop painter using short radial brushstrokes or a sponging technique, evidencing human variations in the load, thickness, and intensity of the pigment. This chromatic variant in puce colour had its exact peak of production between 1780 and 1785. 6. DISPOSITION OF MARKS AND INTEGRITY OF THE SET • Main Factory Marks: Dry incised stamp with the legend NEALE & Co present and legible on the Medium Platter, the Base of the Sauce Tureen, and one Soup Plate. It certifies the legal provenance and authorship of the lot. • Workman's Mark / Matrix (Workman's Mark): Incised stamp RW located on the reverse of the second soup plate. It corresponds to the initials of the modeller workman from the Hanley workshop or to the imprint of moulds shared with the contemporary manufactory of Ralph Wood. • Pieces Exempt from Signature: The Large Platter and the upper body of the Sauce Tureen lack a stamp due to operational discarding in the firing chain. Their authenticity and organic integration into the lot are irrefutably demonstrated by the perfect homogeneity in the density of the paste, the chromatic spectrum of the pigment, and the identical matrix of the engraving. 7. DETAILED INVENTORY AND DIMENSIONS • Large Service Platter (Unsigned): Length: 31.5 cm | Width: 23 cm | Height: 2 cm • Medium Service Platter (Signed Neale & Co): Length: 26 cm | Width: 20 cm | Height: 2 cm • Sauce Tureen Stand / Platter (Signed Neale & Co): Length: 23.5 cm | Width: 14.5 cm | Height: 3 cm • Standalone Sauce Tureen (Unsigned): Maximum length: 19.5 cm | Maximum width: 8.5 cm | Maximum height: 9 cm • Soup Plate A (Signed Neale & Co): Diameter: 25 cm | Height: 3.5 cm • Soup Plate B (Signed with workman's mark RW): Diameter: 25 cm | Height: 3.5 cm 8. CONDITION REPORT, PATINA AND HISTORICAL TRACE The set is in an exceptional state of conservation for being high pre-industrial earthenware from the Georgian era. The physical marks present in the lot are of a secular historical character; they act as legitimate witnesses of its antiquity and use on a noble table, being fully consolidated and without compromising the aesthetic reading or the cohesion of the pieces: • Large Platter (31.5 cm): Impeccable structure and integrity. Retains on its reverse an original incised manufacture imprint (numerical code/mould control mark) sealed under the factory glaze. • Medium Platter (26 cm): Presents a small chip or superficial dent from historical impact located on the lip of the scalloped edge, slightly affecting the carmine profiling but without leading to fracture lines. • Sauce Tureen and stand platter (19.5 cm and 23.5 cm): Retain excellent sharpness in their transfer motifs and perimeter enamels, showing a patina of use in keeping with the rest of the table service. • Soup Plates (Lot of 2 units): Both plates present subtle chips and old friction wear on the most exposed ridges of their wavy reliefs, with the edges naturally softened by the course of the decades, differentiating themselves expertly in the following manner: o Soup Plate A (Signed Neale & Co.): Exhibits a main capillary line (hairline) stable that transversely crosses the left rim towards the bottom of the piece, accompanied by a second smaller capillary fissure located in the upper left quadrant. It also presents a historical chip from impact on the upper ridge and a subtle friction wear on the right flank. o Soup Plate B (Signed with workman's mark RW): Impeccable rim and bottom structure and integrity, free of capillary fissures. Shows a pattern of 6 small friction chips distributed perimetrically along the exposed ridges of its scalloped relief. The soul and visual presence of the dinner service: Beyond the cold technical analysis of each mark, what truly captivates about this set when having it in front of you is its imposing presence and the warmth it transmits. Seeing these six pieces gathered together after almost two and a half centuries causes a unique emotion; the trace of the hands of the Staffordshire artisans is noted. Despite the small logical wear from its more than 240 years, the lot maintains an excellent uniformity of tone; the clean crazing of the cream earthenware and the contrast of the carmine oxide remain wonderful. Gathered together, the set possesses the force and the sobriety typical of high Georgian earthenware, resulting in a piece with character, highly attractive and ready for its direct display in a showcase or collection. 9. ADDITIONAL ACQUISITION NOTE AND GRAPHIC SUPPORT • Photographs as a binding part of the description: The attached and detailed photographic report constitutes a fundamental and indivisible element of the present technical cataloguing. In accordance with international standards for the valuation of artistic assets, the images act as the definitive and visual expert record of the lot. • Meticulous documentation of the condition: Every effort has been made to inspect, record, and graphically document each rim, relief, contour, and detail of the set, ensuring that the interested party possesses an honest and detailed visualization of the physiognomy and character of the pieces before their acquisition. • Nature and condition of high antiquity: Interested parties are formally advised that they are acquiring high-era objects with an exact antiquity of between 241 and 246 years of historical trajectory. As genuine pieces of the Georgian period, manufactured strictly between 1780 and 1785, their value lies precisely in their secular patina. The traces of time described and photographically illustrated here must not be evaluated under the standards of a modern industrial production, but as identity marks that validate their historical authenticity and their extraordinary value as a collectible investment. ** Note on shipment dimensions and weight: The final measurements and weight indicated on the transport form correspond strictly to the setup of a high-security packaging, which is indispensable for the protection of fine 18th-century earthenware.

Estimate:£1,440.27

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