A Flight, Barr & Barr Worcester 'Blind Earl' Dish c.1820

A rare Flight Barr and Barr Worcester porcelain ‘Blind Earl’ sweetmeat dish c.1820-1830. Round, scalloped dish embossed with rose leaves, branches and buds, a gnarled stalk forming the handle, painted flowers & gilt highlights. 19 cm wide.

Impressed FBB mark to the reverse of each dish

Condition: Light wear to the gilding 

It is probable Worcester copied Chelsea for a very similar shape of dish was made during the Red Anchor period. Rare examples are also known from Bow and from Derby, all likely copied from the same Chelsea prototype. According to tradition, the Earl of Coventry, blinded in a hunting accident, asked the Worcester factory to make a design he could feel, but like so many stories, part of it at least is apocryphal. The Earl did not suffer his accident until some time later, probably in 1780. A Worcester set of this design made by Flight, Barr and Barr does remain in the Coventry family, however, and it is likely the pattern earned its name as a result of the production of this set in the 1830s.