A pair of Worcester dessert plates c.1775

A pair of Worcester dessert plates c.1775, from the Bishop Sumner service, richly decorated in the manner of Chinese famille verte with a kylin and a phoenix to the well, the rim with six panels of birds, flowers and mythical beasts, the undersides with three floral sprays, 22.5cm. (2)

The pattern is a direct copy of a Chinese original from the Kangxi period (1662-1722) although the palette is not true to the Chinese porcelain. There are several Bishop Sumners after whom the service could be named - perhaps the most likely are the brothers John Sumner, Archbishop of Canterbury (1780-1862) and Charles Sumner, Bishop of Winchester (1790-1874) - but as both lived in the 19th century the service cannot have been originally made for them. It is possible that a link was made when the service was sold as part of one of the bishop's estates.