Caughley Porcelain Teapot, Pink Floral Compagnie des Indes, ca 1785

The Caughley factory ran between 1775 and 1799, founded by Ambrose Gallimore and Thomas Turner. It produced very fine soft-paste porcelain made for the middle classes in mostly underglaze blue and gilt decorations. Today the items are very collectable because of their high quality and elegant yet simple decorations, which tell the tale of the more ordinary well-to-do population, rather than the extremely wealthy clientele that many other factories served.

This pot is decorated with the famous “Compagnie des Indes” pattern, with its characteristic bold pink-themed flower sprays and a pink scale border. The finial consists of a sculpted flower, imitating the famous Worcester teapots of that era.

The teapot is unmarked, as is common for that period.

CONDITION REPORT The teapot is in perfect antique condition without any damage, repairs, crazing or even wear other than a missing petal from the finial and some very light scratches, as can be expected form an item this age.

Antique British porcelain is never perfect. Kilns were fired on coal, and this meant that china from that period can have some firing specks from flying particles. British makers were also known for their experimentation, and sometimes this resulted in technically imperfect results. Due to the shrinkage in the kiln, items can have small firing lines or develop crazing over time, which should not be seen as damage but as an imperfection of the maker’s recipes, probably unknown at the time of making. Items have often been used for many years and can have normal signs of wear, and gilt can have signs of slight disintegration even if never handled. I will reflect any damage, repairs, obvious stress marks, crazing or heavy wear in the item description but some minor scratches, nicks, stains and gilt disintegration can be normal for vintage items and need to be taken into account.

There is widespread confusion on the internet about the difference between chips and nicks, or hairlines and cracks. I will reflect any damage as truthfully as I can, i.e. a nick is a tiny bit of damage smaller than 1mm and a chip is something you can easily see with the eye; a glazing line is a break in the glazing only; hairline is extremely tight and/or superficial and not picked up by the finger; and a crack is obvious both to the eye and the finger. Etcetera – I try to be as accurate as I can and please feel free to ask questions or request more detailed pictures!

DIMENSIONS 19.5cm (7.25″) X 16cm (6.3″) X 11.5cm (4.5″).