This has to be the most elegant piece I’ve ever sold! It’s Parian ware by Copeland (which later became W. T. Copeland & Sons); a jug / pitcher adorned with Lily of the Valley leaves and and flowers. It has a flared shaped rim and the handle and base are weaved split leaves. Very intricate.
Outside is matte, interior is glazed.
Date: c1850, the base is stamped COPELAND with the registration kite mark dating the piece.
This is VERY RARE! The only examples I could find online of this have all been sold.
Approximate size:
6.25” high
3" wide at base
5.75” wide including spout and handle
Condition: Great condition for an item of this age, please see detailed photographs. Call outs are as follows…
-There is one small chip on the handing underside of one of the flowers (3rd to last photo, circled). I didn’t notice this until I enlarged a photo. Meaning, it’s hard to notice.
- Edge of rim has some roughness that you can feel more than see (when you run your finger over it). This seems like something that has existed since the firing. 2nd to last photo shows you on of the areas of roughness.
- There is some crazing to the interior glaze, one line in particular. I don’t believe it’s a crack, but if it is, it's a tiny hairline only on the interior and very stable (last photo).
-There are some marks in the porcelain from the firing process (circled in the 2nd to last photo are some examples). Very minimal.
If I were keeping this, I’d give it a good, professional cleaning as dust/dirt has settled into some of the deeper crevices. This sat on a shelf in an English home (my friend’s) for MANY years.
Info about Parian ware from Drove House Antiques:
'Parian' is the name now used for a form of porcelain developed in England in the early 1840s. The porcelain body was made to have a resemblance to marble, and when first introduced it was heralded as an affordable way for people to bring into their homes smaller scale copies of the large marble statues and busts found in Stately Homes. For this reason Copeland called their Parian wares 'Statuary Porcelain', Minton used 'Parian' in reference to the fine white marble from the Greek Island of Paros and Wedgwood called their wares 'Carrara' after the fine Italian marble. The term 'parian' ware is now common usage for the output of all manufacturers. Parian ware is most commonly undecorated allowing the attractive tone of the porcelain and the fine modelling to be appreciated (although Parian ware can also be found with a coloured porcelain body, or with surface tinting).