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Lot Essay
In the fall of 1958, Peter Thomas brought to our attention a remarkable Barr, Flight, and Barr service being offered at Neiman Marcus in Dallas... It still is perhaps the most beautiful service we own.
D.R.
The crest is that of Cookes, almost certainly for the Reverend Denham James Joseph Cookes (1777-1829), the service possibly a wedding present or commissioned shortly after his marriage to Maria Henrietta (1781-1873), daughter of Charles Johnstone, second son of the Marchioness of Annandale by her second husband Colonel Johnstone.
Although the painting on this service has been ascribed to Thomas Baxter in the past, it is more likely that of John Barker, as Baxter did not arrive at the factory until 1814. With it's marbled ground, shell painting and gilt bell-flowers at the rim, it is nearly identical to the armorial service made for the Gordon family in 1812, the painting attributed to John Barker. Solomon Cole, a contemporary at the Flight factory, noted that Barker "excelled in painting shells." See J. Sandon, The Dictionary of Worcester Porcelain, vol. I, Suffolk, 1993, p. 50 for a discussion of Barker's work and p. 180 for an example of a plate from the very similar Gordon service.
D.R.
The crest is that of Cookes, almost certainly for the Reverend Denham James Joseph Cookes (1777-1829), the service possibly a wedding present or commissioned shortly after his marriage to Maria Henrietta (1781-1873), daughter of Charles Johnstone, second son of the Marchioness of Annandale by her second husband Colonel Johnstone.
Although the painting on this service has been ascribed to Thomas Baxter in the past, it is more likely that of John Barker, as Baxter did not arrive at the factory until 1814. With it's marbled ground, shell painting and gilt bell-flowers at the rim, it is nearly identical to the armorial service made for the Gordon family in 1812, the painting attributed to John Barker. Solomon Cole, a contemporary at the Flight factory, noted that Barker "excelled in painting shells." See J. Sandon, The Dictionary of Worcester Porcelain, vol. I, Suffolk, 1993, p. 50 for a discussion of Barker's work and p. 180 for an example of a plate from the very similar Gordon service.