A Chelsea shallow bowl, circa 1755


Painted in delicate colours with a loose bouquet of flowers and scattered sprigs, the border crisply moulded with three scrolling cartouches fully painted with birds in flight, the scrolling rim edged with a brown line, 24.2cm diam, red anchor mark
|Chelsea tablewares with this distinctive moulded border are associated with the name of Warren Hastings who is believed to have owned a set with fable panels and a gold rim. Rosalie Wise Sharp, Ceramics, Ethics and Scandal (2002), p.246-247 illustrates a 'Warren Hastings' plate painted with fable vignettes together with a dish of another variation with figures in landscapes. The use of birds alone in the border panels is more unusual.