BACKGROUND:
I understand you (really!) I pen so many words and provide so much information but both my wife and I feel that we owe it, to those who are interested, to provide as much detail as possible about this chinaware and then offer multiple choices regarding the differing designs (see below) and condition of each piece, the latter being reflected in the asking price (which is very reasonable when we look at others selling similar product online elsewhere and we don't just say meaningless things such as "condition commensurate with age"!)
Chinaware (and other beautifully hand made items) is my wife's passion and websites is mine! This combination allows us to offer items which we have loved and cared for over the years but as the "light at the end of the tunnel" is becoming brighter, (advancing age!) all of these beautiful items must find new homes which hold similar values to ourselves.
It's Paragon Time!
My wife is an ardent collector of fine chinaware's and she has slowly been passing bits and pieces to me for listing on our family website. Usually she just gives me "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" (remember that song ...)
but she has suddenly decided to clear a whole cabinet of beautiful Paragon! Old Royal Paragon and more contemporary Paragon ... lots of them!
Paragon China (1919 ~ 1960) was based in Longton, Stoke-On-Kent and produced very high quality fine china with a range of stunning designs, particularly breakfast settings.
Over it's history, the company was awarded a number of Royal warrants and eventually Paragon became part of the Royal Doulton group (1972)
These Royal Paragon teasets date from 1933+ due to the granting of a Warrant of Royal Appointment by Her Majesty The Queen (Mary) and of course, the company added word ROYAL in the backstamp ...
These pieces are special in other ways as well ... actually a number of ways
Look at the shape, weird huh? Instead of nice circular or even hexagonal saucers and side plates, these are oval shaped and slightly upturned at each "end" almost like a dish.
Next thing that you notice is the decoration, where is it? (I hear you asking ...) While the outside of the teacups is pure White fine bone china (which do have a couple of thin Royal Blue decorative lineworks) all the artwork is inside the teacup. Around the inside of the teacup is a broad patterned Royal Blue Red and Yellow banding reminiscent of the Art Deco period and way down at the inside base of the teacup is the artwork ... just think about how skilled the decorator must have been to paint these flower arrangements right down inside the teacup! I for one, am in awe!
Here are the two floral designs (3x teacups of each design)
Floral design #1
Floral design #2
Only the teacups have this decorative work, with the saucers and side plates being decorated with the same Royal Blue patterned banding only - no separate flower arrangements have been placed on these pieces.
My wife informs me that these teasets are very difficult to come by in Australia, particularly those which remain in such very nice condition, she holds these Royal Paragon teacups up there on a pedestal with her superb "butterfly" handled teacups (which she absolutely adores)
I have been instructed to offer each piece individually so that those interested who already have some of these pieces are not forced to purchase a complete trio - you can purchase any individual piece OR if you do purchase three or more pieces, an sizeable automatic discount is applied in the checkout.
If this Royal Paragon doesn't "do it" for you, you can view other Paragon fine chinaware HERE
DLAT Rating 10/10 (Darling Look At These!)
ROYAL PARAGON - Teacup, Saucer & Side Plate
Made in England
We have six complete trio's (Yes, six!) but again, there is something more to these ... three of the teacups have a different floral decoration inside the teacup compared to the remaining three. The border decorations are identical, only the teacup decorations changed. In the selection boxes you can choose which floral design you would like to have.
Circa period 1933+ (based primarily on the backstamp design) my wife acquired these around 30 years ago while in England and bought them back to Australia.
Fine Bone White China
This china is very delicate and you can feel the quality craftspersonship in these pieces, a bit like when hold a nice piece of Shelley or Balleek.
Translucent, meaning if held to the light you can easily see your fingers through the china pieces, even the much thicker saucer and side plate.
Design pattern or code number is unknown and is not indicated on any piece
Unusual decorative choices and shapes used, see my comments above about these features.
Fluted sides (similar to our Shelley's from this period) with a "cross-hatch" pattern in the china
Standard up turned handle but not to the extent of a Queen Anne handle
Entirely hand decorated
NO Gold gilding to be seen anywhere, just plenty of Royal Blues!
DIMENSIONS:
TEACUP
Mouth of the teacup is 79mm diameter x 75mm height
SAUCER
150mm x 130mm (Yes, an oval shape)
SIDE PLATE
173mm x 147mm (Another oval shape)
BACKSTAMP DETAILS:
Black printed backstamp as photographed
COSMETIC CONDITION:
The following comments are applicable to every piece of these six teaset trio's - any general comments or flaws noticed are then noted below this section ...
CLEAN
NO cracks
NO chips
NO crazing observed to any piece (both wet or dry observation)
NO Knife or scratch marks in the central area of either the saucers or side plates (these obviously never saw much use over the last 90+ years!
NO discolouration inside the teacup due to tannin (tea)
All decorative colouring is vivid, bright and not faded or dull looking
NO discolouration or damage to the decorative work, both the borders and teacup floral designs (it doesn't appear that much tea taking has been taking place using these teacups!)
GENERAL COMMENTS & FLAWS NOTICED
The human touch! This isn't your Maxwell & Williams machine produced ceramic ... every millimetre of decoration has been hand applied (as indicated on the undersides with the decorators "mark") and no human is perfect, although some think they are!
With these pieces this shows up with slight areas on a couple of pieces that are not butted against each other properly e.g where the Royal Blue banding meets the inner Golden Yellow band on a side plate. Another human flaw I noticed is one the underside of one side plate only ... the liquid glaze has flowed over the Green REG. NO stamp and this now coloured glaze liquid built up on one side before it was fired, so you can see a thicker glaze near the backstamp which is light Green in colour - no big deal but another sign of human imperfection. We don't consider these to be a flaws, it means a human created this!
Flaws on the other hand are human created through useage, careless handling or abuse (who would dare abuse a Paragon?!?! - call the Ceramic Police!)
Fortunately the flaws are few and far between and detailed below ...
Another aspect of this design shape that folks may wonder about ... the shape and how do they stack when in the china cabinet? These have been very well made and each piece fits nicely into another, the shaping of each piece is very similar to any other piece of the same type, so they do not "rock n roll" all over the place when stacked on a shelf.
TEACUP
One teacup has a couple of tiny "spots" on the side which can only be seen when viewed closely against the bright White base china. Normal hand washing did not move them.
SAUCER
Two saucers have one or two (only) tiny Black dots. Normal hand washing did not budge these dots and looking closely, I feel they are under the glaze.
Another two saucers had what feel but do not look like fleabites, so very small but there are these little "pockets" on the underside of the pieces. Again, I am being really fastidious here but felt they should be pointed out.
SIDE PLATE
Three side plates have one or two (only) fleabites, or at least one of them is a fleabite but the other marks are so tiny but I can feel them with my finger.
In summary ...
When purchasing, you are provided with multiple choices to suit your needs.
These choices are:
Teacup Floral Design #1
Teacup Floral Design #1 With A Couple Of Tiny Side Spots
Teacup Floral Design #2
Saucer Without Flaws
Saucer With Flaws (spotting and/or a couple of fleabites)
Side Plate Without Flaws
Side Plate With Flaws (spotting and/or a couple of fleabites)
CONGRATULATIONS!
You have managed to reach the end of this rather exhaustive description of these Royal Paragon teaset pieces, 18 in total or 6 complete trio's, take a rest now ...
