Georgian Punch Bowl, Worcester? Liverpool?

I have had this damaged bowl for a while now, and thought it might be Chinese export but hoped it was English. Some helpful experts on an English porcelain forum agreed that it was in fact English (most of what I post there turns out to be Chinese!). They also agreed that Worcester or Liverpool were the most likely options; the inner border pattern was used by both factories. Without actually being able to handle the item they couldn't hazard a guess which it was. Since confirming it was English I have tried to identify the maker by the more unusual features of the painting, but without any sucess so far. I am hoping that someone in the expert community here might recognise the characterisitics, or at least keep an eye open for them while reading books or browsing items for sale. What I see as the odd individual painting quirks are the leaves to the left of the flowers which look like strings of sausages; the other leaves in which the veins are painted like angular fir trees (a Chinese-type device); the red flowers with tongues coming out of the centre in an alien-like fashion; and the strangely drawn ladybird? with 8 wavy legs. Finding any of these elements might give me somewhere to concentrate my search. Of course a painter could move between factories, but it would be a start.

 

Interesting bowl. Can’t tell size but looks more slop bowl than punch bowl size from your fingers in the pic.

Will look out for similar painting. I’ve seen ladybirds on Chelsea and Worcester but not on Liverpool yet.

 

I'd have said tea bowl. Did you post this on one of the Facebook fora? It looks vaguely familiar.

 

Looks like creamware, doesn't it? Is it translucent? Nice design though for sure.
I think the foot shape will be the key to identity though, very distinctive and sharply formed and the pooling bluish glaze also a good clue.
Oh - and defintely not Chinese!

 

I feel that is early porcelain and not creamware. I've done a few searches and think that the ladybird is your best chance of identifying it. I've found Worcester, Bow and Chelsea examples but none from other factories (as yet).

 

Many thanks for this John, and I apologise for not putting in measurements, my bad! Also I was mixing this up with another, Chinese, larger bowl I was trying to identify recently, which is indeed a punch bowl, I think. That one is about 19cms in diameter, the ladybird bowl I am enquiring about is 15.75 cms in diameter (6.2ins), which seems to correspond with early slop bowls for sale on ebay, so that must be what it is. That means that the two other bowls which I have, which I assumed were slop bowls, are probably large sugar bowls, or maybe something else! I will attach a photo of this bowl, the Chinese bowl and a tea bowl, for comparison.
You have added Chelsea and Bow to my field of research, although I would be incredibly lucky to find it was one of those!

 

Hi, glad you agree that it is not Chinese, there's nothing wrong with Chinese but early English is what I would prefer! The foot shape seems common to several factories, including Worcester and several Liverpool ones, but the bluish glaze should narrow it down when I have some suspects. It is translucent when held against a strong light, so I don't know if that excludes creamware. I'm not at all expert on pastes and glazes, it would make identification much easier if I was! I think that one has to handle many items to get a feel for them, and to be able to compare types. I have been able to buy so few pieces of early porcelain/earthenware etc so far that I haven't got the experience yet, especially telling Chinese from European, my biggest problem.

Yes, I did post it on the Facebook Friendly British Pottery and Porcelain forum (recommended), which is where it was identified as English, but the discussion concluded with no factory yet identified. I am hoping that the large panel of experts on this forum will keep their eyes open to help me finally find the maker. It won't be valuable whatever the factory, far too damaged, but then most of my earlier pieces are, or I wouldn't have been able to buy them!

 

It does Valerie. Creamware is pottery and is opaque.
Keep an eye out for flowers painted like that, and also the palette which will also be distinctive to a given factory. That's the key from here on in.

Because it's such an early piece you might want to compare it with the pottery productions of the era as well as the porcelain makers - a lot of them transitioned from the faiences to the early soft pastes.

Good hunting, let us know what you find!

 

At present, unless I contradict myself later (!) I'm plumping for Chaffers Liverpool.

 

Thanks, blooey, I would be delighted with Chaffers! I have a couple of little Liverpool cups, but Pennington and Wolfe Mason, and much later. I will keep searching for Chaffers images, but mustn't get my hopes up too much. It is because the bowl might be fairly early and rare that I think it worthwhile persevering. I will have to see if there is any mention of bluish glazing. I hope this thread can be refound, even if it takes years, and I will post any updates.