Three Chinese porcelain English-decorated coffee cups 18th century

Three Chinese porcelain English-decorated coffee cups 18th century, variously decorated in underglaze blue with pagoda and willow landscapes, later-gilded inside and out with formal garland, hatched and chain designs, two Chinese blue and white coffee cups copying the Gazebo pattern produced at Worcester, one with later London decoration in iron red, and a Worcester coffee cup in the Mansfield pattern, later-enamelled with red and gilt highlights, 7cm max. (6)

Provenance: the Helen Espir Collection, nos. 363, 751, 753, 841 and 815. The Worcester cup previously in the Watney Collection.

Illustrated: Helen Espir, European Decoration on Oriental Porcelain, p.238, pl.42 for the three Chinese coffee cups.

The gilded decoration is a common theme of the 1770s and 1780s and is also widely seen on Worcester and Caughley porcelains of the same period. The Gazebo pattern coffee cups throws up an interesting question as to who was copying whom. The inclusion of a grooved handle on the Chinese cups suggests that they were copying Worcester rather than the other way around.