Posted 12 years ago
chinablue
(42 items)
This is one of my favorite porcelain pieces. It's handpainted, tissue paper thin and very light. I have never been able to date it or come up with the maker. It's probably a Limoges blank, possibly Haviland...but that's just a guess on my part. The only marking I can find on the set is on the bottom of the pot and it's a star made of diamond shapes. Anybody got any guesses? This one has me stumped! Thanks for any ideas. Oh forgot to mention it's about 8 inches high, 4 1/2 inches wide at the bottom and the cups are 3 inches high.
Hi, chinablue! What a beautiful form this is!
I have a feeling that this might be 'German'. The handle and the painted motif look more 'German' than French to me. I wondered if it might be RS Prussia. I don't know much about them at all, and sought criteria. Here's what I found. It might well be useful only for ruling out possibilities, but that would still be some advance.
http://www.antiques-bible.com/ppf/term/RS+Prussia+Porcelain+Marks/definition.asp
http://reviews.ebay.com/Identifying-RS-Prussia?ugid=10000000009898813
Regards, miKKo
Thanks for the info and the links. I never considered that the mark could be called a 'snowflake'! I had been looking for "diamond cluster" or "6 point star". I'll have to get on the ball now and start searching for more information on this. I'm especially intrigued where it said something about the items much lighter in weight than you would expect. This pot and the cups are light as feathers. Thanks again for giving me a new lead!
CB
Hi, chinablue! You're most welcome! Regards, miKKo
miKKo.. I was looking for "snowflake" marked prussian and found this.. the marking is different, but the design, especially the finial top seems pretty close.. what do you think?? (hoping this link is allowed since it's just for comparison)
http://www.rubylane.com/item/463593-RL-2830/R-S-Prussia-sugar-bowl
Hi, chinablue! I have just called in for reinforcements from an R.S. Prussia collector. I gave her this link. Perhaps she can help us.
About the Rubylane piece, I suppose it's possible. I am ignorant about porcelain, but I make the following observations: your Rococo chocolate pot is exceptionally well potted in a mold designed by a veritable Master mold maker. Mold and piece are perfect. Piece is crisp, not floppy. The Rubylane piece is attractive in its own way, but it is 'floppy' porcelain - not of the same calibre. Of course, not every piece from an exceptional pottery is exceptionally fine, but I had to note the difference. Mold, also, not masterly. As for the knop, they are similar, but not exactly the same. (On the other hand, they don't have to be exactly the same, do they? Yes, the same 'interrupted' form.) The handles on the Rubylane piece, I submit, are not well done. The decoration is, in my opinion, not well done. Don't mean to throw cold water on you!!! Just, you asked my opinion. I attach another example of German porcelain below - not as fine as your piece, by any means, but perhaps illustrative of good German efforts. It is not floppy.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Brunswick-Germany-Chocolate-Pitcher-Tea-Pot-Thistle-Pattern-w-Gold-/251080009797?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a7588e845
Here are some German marks wepages. I checked the first one already - no hits. The second I haven't.
http://www.auktion-bergmann.de/Katalog.aspx?a_id=3&s_id=305&pidx=12
http://www.ceramic-link.de/icd/pages/marks/marksbycountry/germany.htm
Now, if we later hear from someone that this is French after all, I hope that you will be candid with me, too! (I'll be hiding in the closet if it's French!)
Regards, miKKo
Hi, chinablue! Looks like I don't have to go hide in the closet. The expert said the following:
"Hi, this pattern was made by Reinhold Schlegelmilch, (RSPrussia) in 1898, pattern carried by Webb Freyschlag and by G. Sommers wholesale firms. The star is a mold mark, used by this firm, for support of the base of the pieces. Hope this helps....Lee Marple."
Here she is on the website for international collectors of R. S. Prussia:
http://rsprussia.com/history/
Many thanks to Lee Marple for the most kind and generous assistance!!!
Thanks for your patience, chinablue. I'm now going to go stand in the corner because I was cheeky : (
Regards, miKKo
Thanks miKKo. Glad you could bring in the big guns on this one! I guess I don't have a very thin skin, 'cause I certainly didn't think you were being cheeky. I mean, when I get cheeky with someone, it's quite obvious! What I think you were being was matter of fact. Several years ago I had seen similar marks that were used for support of suspended areas in porcelain, such as the bottom of this pot. Because of that I didn't refer to it as a maker's mark in my original post. I had membership at several sites for porcelain marks and pattern ID a few years back just to research some this and some of my other pieces, and this is the only one that I wanted to but never could ID. Though I'd love to see another piece of this design, I probably never will. But at least I know when and where it came from, thanks to you and Lee Marple. You may now leave the corner. :-)
I still don't know the pattern and probably never will. But at least now I have a maker and a date.. so this mystery is now being marked solved. Thanks for ALL your help, miKKo. You're a peach!
Thank you kindly, chinablue, for the compliment! It was a pleasure! miKKo
You are most welcome and the pleasure was mine. :-)
Thanks to everyone for the loves!