Miles Mason Teapot with Hand Engraved Silver on Copper Lid by Frederick Elkington and Sugar Bowl with Lid, Pattern 128, C. 1800-1805

A particularly fine Miles Mason teapot and sugar bowl, dating c. 1800-1805. Four bat prints of figure groups represent the four seasons within octagonal gold panels. These alternate with gold shield and leaf sprays on a pale pink ground. N.128 is inscribed in gold on the sugar bowl. Both are imprinted M Mason along the foot rim.

It appears that at some point Frederick Elkington was commissioned to replace the teapot lid. The pattern on the main teapot was replicated in silver with Spring and Summer octagonal cartouches. Corresponding decorative features are picked out in gold. The lid is marked with the Queen’s head, FE and the date stamp for 1877.

There is one tiny rubbed area to the gilt on the sugar basin lid. Otherwise, the gilding is in excellent condition. There is a tiny firing flaw to the lip of the teapot. The sugar basin also has a tiny flaw to the top edge. This must also have been a firing flaw as it is gilded over. There are no cracks or other wear.

Miles Mason started his career in the sale of imported oriental porcelain through the East India Company. When that dried up in the early 1790s, he went into a number of partnerships, including with Thomas Wolfe at the Islington China Works in Liverpool. In 1800, Miles Mason set up on his own account in the Staffordshire potteries, producing porcelains of a hard paste type.