Showing posts with label scent bottle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scent bottle. Show all posts

Thursday, August 3, 2023

Coalport Porcelain Jeweled Ball Perfume Bottles

I won't get into the history of the Coalport firm as there is so much information to be gleaned online and in books. 


In 1780, John Rose who had been trained and apprenticed at Caughley, established a small porcelain factory in nearby Jackfield. In 1790, he moved his establishment to Coalport, just a mile farther down the Severn, and in 1799 bought the Caughley factory. The business from the first prospered exceedingly and, after Rose's death in 1841, was continued by his nephew. After 1875, the establishment was acquired by a company and the business was carried on upon the old site by the Coalport China Company. 

Much of the porcelain from the Coalport factory was sold as whiteware in London to outside decorators from all over England. Coalport worked hard to imitate the magnificent ground colors of Sevres.

Initially, Coalport followed the patterns and decorations used at Caughley, however, Coalport made excellent reproductions of the porcelain from the Sevres, Derby, Meissen, Dresden and Chelsea firms. These included direct copies of vases, cabinet pieces and tableware, even the original marks were accurately copied as well. This was achieved by employing painters from Worcester, Derby and the Staffordshire potteries. The work was so well done that collectors have been duped over the years thinking they were purchasing authentic antique porcelain from those firms but in reality purchased excellent copies made by Coalport.

"In the second half of the 19th century the Coalport manufacturers added yet another specialization to their repertoire of hand decorated porcelains. They developed the technique called “jewelling” whereby small beads of colored enamel were applied most often to a gold ground. According to the auctioneers Skinner Inc, it is thought this was first developed and introduced by the Worcester porcelain factory in the mid 1860s. Turquoise seemed to be the prevalent color, meticulously and uniformly decorating tea wares, useful wares and ornamental wares, often accompanied by a rich raised gold decoration. They were produced for sale in Britain and abroad. "

This is just a brief guide and gallery of one the firm's specialized products: ball shaped perfume (scent) bottles with hinged caps and decorated with tiny turquoise enameled dots (or beads) called "jewels." Coalport specialized in making jeweled porcelain in the Sèvres style. The porcelain was lavishly covered or accented with gold enamel and profusely embellished with rich, raised gold borders, chased and raised enamel rococo scrolling. My favorite effect is the multicolored enamel cabochons mimicking precious and semiprecious gems such as opals, moonstones and agate. 

In 1892, for example, the Pottery Gazette noted that Coalport's "ornamentation is exceedingly rich, and is shown on a great variety of fancy shapes .... The imitations of jewelled setting is [sic] very perfect , particularly the topaz and pearl."

In the reserved panels (or windows) with the ground colors, and also on porcelain without ground colors, a wide variety of decorations was utilized. All manner of naturalistic floral motifs, garlands, lacy festoons, wreaths, birds, scenic landscapes in the manner of Watteau, portraits and figures.  

The colors used as grounds on the pieces were Mazarin blue, bleu de roi (Sevres' turquoise), Rose Pompadour (incorrectly called rose du Barry), claret, salmon, teal, crimson lake, apple green, sky blue (turquoise or celeste), gray, buff, Swansea blue, a bright canary yellow, mauve, magenta, maroon, Sardinian green, cafe au lait, and others.

Chats on English China by Arthur Hayden, 1904:
"A maroon ground introduced by Walker from Nantgarw about 1822 The deep mazarine blue of Derby reproduced at Coalport is quite equal to Derby pieces in tone. The rich ground colours of old Sèvres porcelain were copied with great success at Coalport particularly the turquoise blue and the rose du Barri."

 

The China Decorator - Volumes 10-11, 1891:
"The Coalport enamelers may be quite as skillful - nay, much more so - than those of the Coalport ateliers, but their work is intended to make a greater show and attract more attention than that of the Coalport artists. Turquoise is their great material for exhibition. The article to be enameled is first covered with gold, fired, and nicely burnished. Then the enamel is laid on the graduated dots (to make it plain to the reader) from large to small in perfect sizes and pattern. Small articles for cabinets and ornament as tiny bon-bon boxes, jewel cases, scent bottles, etc., and on very small articles sometimes shows several hundred dots of enamel. Cups and saucers are also decorated in the same fashion, and such articles being from $8 or $10 each to $50 in retail shops. 
Besides a very elaborate employment of turquoise blue enamel, they also use enamels, imitating pearls and other translucent gems. With opals particularly they are very successful. The center of the article or space to be decorated first has a gold design in imitation of jewelry work, sometimes with raised paste, oftener flat. After firing and slightly polishing, the enamels are laid on for the second firing. 
The method of work is kept as great a secret as possible, and the imitation of opals, which is accomplished with a combination of transparent and semi-opaque enamels, is really marvelous. Since imitating jewels with glass has become so successful and popular, it is possible that these so called enamel opals are in reality glass jewels. It would be quite possible to make one appear quite like the other without detection, but the artists and manufacturers say the work is enameling, and there is no reason why they should misrepresent facts." 


Table Talk - Volume 8, 1893:
"A new departure is the "Chalcedony," still Coalport, but with a new blue for grounding and a perfect imitation of moss-agate, introduced with all the shadings and beauty of the real stones. Lovely plates, the centre pieces, miniatures, copied from the portraits of Reynolds and Gainesborough, again the café noir cups and saucers, the grounding the brown of the coffee berry with decorations of bright gold - the inside of cup entirely burnished gold. This delicate, exquisite porcelain seems adapted to fancy pieces for gift and cabinet purposes and the dressing tables of the fair women of many countries are beautiful with its graceful, dainty presentations."

The British Trade Journal - Volume 31, 1893
"The Coalport China Company - Rarely have more beautiful or costly pieces of china been sent to any exhibition than those forwarded to Chicago by the Coalport Company. Plates, vases, and trinket boxes comprise the greater part of this magnificent display. A specialty is the chalcedony decoration, which reproduces the hues of the agate, and there is a lovely Sèvres glaze on the ware, and the precious stone appears to have been inlaid. Two graceful vases a present for Princess Christian are adorned with this scheme." 

The Book of the Fair, Hubert Howe Bancroft · 1894
"A specialty of the Coalport China company's exhibits is its reproduction in chalcedony of the hues of agate, as may be seen in two of its vases intended for Princess Christiana."

The British Trade Journal - Volume 31,
"The Coalport China Company, in addition to a number of new goods in their first-class artistic ornamental wares, are making many novelties in useful ware, but all elegant in shape and rich in decoration. Some of their new decorations, introduced for exhibition at Chicago, will be seen this season in many of their productions for home purposes. The latest novelty they have, the "Chalcedony," is perfectly unique. It is a splendid imitation in china of "moss agate," and is most artistically introduced into almost every useful article made by the firm, dessert plates, teas, scent bottles, plaques, wall pockets, and even teacups and saucers, are all shown with this realistic imitation agate, introduced with fine effect."



Gallery of Scent Bottles:


Elaborately jeweled examples were included in Coalport's display at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and won a gold medal and garnered much publicity. I suspect many of the designs looked like the ones below.






















Marks Found on Coalport Perfume Bottles:



The Coalport Crown Mark shown below was used c1891 to 1919.


 

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Scent Cases from the Grand Tour

What we term perfume caskets today were known as "scent cases" during the 19th century. These were often purchased in Europe, most notably in Paris. Originally purchased from the shopping arcades at the famous Palais-Royal in Paris, these retail outlets sold luxury goods such as fine jewelry, furs, paintings and furniture to the wealthy elite. The peak of casket manufacture is the Napoleon III period from 1852 to 1870.

History of Perfumery in the 17th Century

In the 16th and 17th centuries, bathing was to a large extent abandoned in favor of the liberal use of toilet waters, scented powders and luxurious fragrances.




Sunday, November 21, 2021

Buyer Beware! These Poison Bottles Are Not All That They Seem!

 Buyer Beware! These "Poison Bottles" are not all that they seem!



There has been a recent surge in sellers offering unusual antique "poison bottles" at very high prices. In reality, the bottles themselves are genuine antiques, most appear to be scent bottles dating from 1820s-1900 period, however, unscrupulous sellers are affixing newly manufactured "silver" or "gold" plaques to the glass and offering them as authentic "poison bottles". Some of the "poison" plaques may state the "poison" such as "belladonna" or "cyanide."

Some bottles also feature silvery three-dimensional skulls soldered onto the tops of the bottle caps, these skulls just like the plaques, are NOT original to the bottles and have been added recently in order to deceive you into thinking they are improving their "value". You may also encounter double ended bottles with "Poison" on one side and "Antidote" on the other. A variation of this can be seen in some examples of "Cocaine" at one end and "Morphine" at the other. 

These sellers are capitalizing on the public's fascination with all things Victorian, morbid, death related, titillating and unusual. These items may appeal to those interested in Gothic lifestyle or fashion, anyone interested in criminal justice or crime, memento mori, Victorian era customs regarding death or just an unusual "collectible", much in the same regard as the faked "Vampire Killing Kits". These items are modern fantasy items created to fool the public and add perceived "value" to items that would be rather inexpensive without all the tomfoolery. Also included in this genre are scent bottles labeled as "tear catchers," a type of bottle I have already covered in a previous article.

Please don't be fooled into thinking these "poison" bottles are the real deal - yes, they are genuine antique SCENT bottles, but they are NOT "poison" bottles. They have been fraudulently "upcycled" and sellers are trying to convince you that they are rare. They should be regarded simply as "curiosities." 

I have been made aware of a certain etsy seller who is offering these bottles and claiming (without proof) that they came from Queen Victoria's personal physician. An ebay seller located in Bulgaria is selling MANY of these bottles in various types of decor, colors and shapes. I would think that these bottles are originating from this particular seller and being purchased from them and resold by other dealers. This same Bulgarian seller also specializes in manufacturing newly created "memento mori" jewelry and spoons as well as adding onto existing antique jewelry pieces. Common themes are skulls and snakes using both silver and gold. Some of it is beautifully crafted, but unfortunately, not original.

The "poison" bottles range in price from $1000-$3000 per bottle based on decor and style. Most of the bottles are extremely common Victorian scent bottles and would sell normally for $50-$400 without the fraudulently added "upcycling."


Gallery of Faked Poison Bottles:


All of these bottles below have been found online, mostly from one particular ebay seller located in Bulgaria.

























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This is not your average perfume blog. In each post, I present perfumes or companies as encyclopedic entries with as much facts and photos as I can add for easy reading and researching without all the extraneous fluff or puffery.

Please understand that this website is not affiliated with any of the perfume companies written about here, it is only a source of reference. I consider it a repository of vital information for collectors and those who have enjoyed the classic fragrances of days gone by. Updates to posts are conducted whenever I find new information to add or to correct any errors.

One of the goals of this website is to show the present owners of the various perfumes and cologne brands that are featured here how much we miss the discontinued classics and hopefully, if they see that there is enough interest and demand, they will bring back these fragrances!

Please leave a comment below (for example: of why you liked the fragrance, describe the scent, time period or age you wore it, who gave it to you or what occasion, any specific memories, what it reminded you of, maybe a relative wore it, or you remembered seeing the bottle on their vanity table, did you like the bottle design), who knows, perhaps someone from the company brand might see it.

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