During the later Georgian period, it became fashionable to finish a meal with a dessert course — consisting of pies, ices, tarts, fruits, nuts, syllabubs and custards — in place of the earlier ‘banquets’ of spiced sweetmeats and biscuits. Dessert was laid out at a separate table or on a three-tier dumb waiter.

Dessert wares were part of Chinese export dinner services from the 1760s onwards, and included sauce tureens and covers, pierced baskets, low, circular, oval or boat-shaped fruit stands (or tazzas) and dessert plates, which are a little smaller than dinner plates. But since dessert was served-cold, wares did not need to be heat-resistant to be suitable, and as a result, British soft-paste porcelain was able to compete with imported Chinese and continental dessert services.

Early English and Welsh

During the 1760s and 70s, the Worcester factory produced some magnificent dessert services, consisting of plates, dishes in four shapes, and small sauce tureens with covers and stands. These are painted with birds, landscapes and flowers against a spectrum of blue-scale, apple-green, claret, turquoise and yellow grounds inspired by Meissen and Sevres. Among many other patterns, the ‘Catherine Wheel’ and ‘Royal Lily’ designs remained popular for decades, and are now very collectable. A 24-piece setting for 12 people (including tureens, dishes, and so on) will sell for £3 000-£6000.

Antique Collector Magazine

Fine Welsh porcelain dessert services from Nantgarw and Swansea — with shaped rectangular fruit dishes on low stands, delicate gilding and unsurpassed flower painting — were popular at the beginning of the 19th century for the translucency and whiteness of their porcelain. Even single plates are highly prized nowadays, changing hands for around £000-£6000. Derby botanical flower plates, many of which have the plants named on the reverse, are also prized. They formed part of dessert services from the 179os, and now fetch £200-£500 per plate, and as much as £8000-£10,000 for a 64-piece service.

The ‘Regency’ porcelain dessert services produced by the Worcester Flight & Barr factory between 1783 and 184o are among the most flamboyant ever made. The dishes and plates, with gadrooned and shaped rims imitating their silver equivalents, are painted with armorials, flowers, shells, birds, feathers, landscapes and views of Worcester or country houses on backgrounds of pale pink, deep claret, salmon and marbling, or all-over gilt patterns. Single plates from these services are worth £200-£4000 today.

Nineteenth Century

During the first part of the 19th century, Wedgwood made a series of imaginative creamware dessert services while some very decorative porcelain services were made by Ridgway, Coalport, Davenport and others. Decoration not seen on dinner plates was lavished on the more luxurious dessert services, some combining moulded and painted borders. Minton was the leading producer of these later in the century, and pierced fruit baskets on tall stands copied from Sevres, some supported by putti — cherubs or cupids - are typical of its wares.

From about 1850, Minton also introduced dessert services, tall fruit stands and other tablewares in high-quality earthenware covered with brightly coloured glazes — vivid pink, turquoise, green, ochre, brown and others. This majolica ware is much collected for its fine quality, bright colours and imaginative design, fetching up to £2500 for a service, or £200-£400 for a fruit stand.

Table Accessories

Many specialised items of ceramic tableware originally appeared as part of comprehensive dinner services, while others were sold as additions to the fashionable table. Some firms made ranges of such wares — Minton’s moulded oyster plates, breadboards, asparagus dishes, fish tureens and butter dishes in majolica are one example — but most manufacturers produced at least a few pieces, varying from the mundane to the spectacular.

Early collectable salts were often part of a larger service, and include flat-bottomed trencher salts made from the late 17th century onwards and circular footed salts from Liverpool, Bow and other r8th-century porcelain factories, copied from George II silver. Occasionally, r8th-century cruet sets for oil and vinegar are found in Leeds creamware, Italian maiolica, French faience or Sevres porcelain, as are salad bowls and mustard pots. Pots with their original small porcelain spoons are rare and fetch £500-£1500 today.

Soup tureens, with cover and stand, have always been a central feature of dinner services. Highly decorative table centrepieces were moulded in animal shapes at the Chelsea porcelain factory, and today fetch £15,000£20,000; smaller tureens modelled as fruit and vegetables fetch £ 1 000-£3000.

Other collectable table decorations include small sweetmeat dishes in shell or leaf shapes. Most have stands which are either pyramid shaped or which take the form of figures, such as Turks or Chinamen, holding small baskets or shell dishes. These range from £300 to £1200 a pair. Even more unusual are creamware ‘core’ jelly moulds made by Wedgwood in the 177os, which were intended to be covered in a translucent jelly light enough to allow the floral decoration to be seen.

A vast array of everyday table accessories include patty pans, sauceboats, pickle trays, asparagus shells, game pie dishes, butter tubs and cheese dishes. Most were made in both porcelain and ‘earthenware, and are a good introduction to ceramic tablewares for the collector on a budget.

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