Our series highlighting pieces from our recently published Flora & Fauna catalogue continues today. This extremely rare First Period Worcester coffee cup and saucer features exotic birds and comes from the atelier James Giles. Each piece is decorated with a central image of colourful exotic birds in a landscape.
A Worcester cup and saucer with exotic birds
Mackinnon Fine Furniture Collection
James Giles and his workshop are often associated with the depiction of fantastic birds in landscapes, which are today classified as Exotic, Fabulous, Dishevelled, Aggressive, and Agitated. Giles derived inspiration for these birds from the fashionable French rococo designs of the period.
A Worcester cup and saucer with exotic birds
Mackinnon Fine Furniture Collection
Shown here are birds of the Exotic form. Their brightly coloured plumage is taken less from nature and more from a colour palette designed to stand out against the white porcelain background. As is typical of Giles’s decoration, the birds are perched on slender, feathery branches.
Come back later in the week to see more catalogue highlights.
The Source 