Antique Coalport Cobalt Blue Saucer – Orphan Saucer, Acid Etched Gold Rays, Ryrie Bros Toronto Retailer Mark, Bone China, England c. 1920

A cabinet saucer on its own, banded in deep cobalt. From the blue, gold rays run inward — tapering flames of uneven length, meeting the white centre in a ragged edge like grass against light. A fine gold circle closes the well, and the rim carries its own gilt line. It was made to be looked at rather than used. Sold without a cup.

The gold was etched, not painted. An acid-resist was drawn over the fired blue, the exposed ground bitten away, and gold laid into the recesses before firing and burnishing — which is why the rays carry two finishes at once. Tilt the saucer under a lamp and the sunken parts stay matte while the raised parts flash; that contrast is the whole effect, and it cannot be got with a brush. It was also expensive, which is why acid-etched gilding appears on cabinet pieces and dinner services for good houses rather than on everyday tea ware. The cobalt beneath was laid heavily enough to read as near-black at the rim and to throw the gold forward.

Circa 1920 to 1924 — an unusually tight window for an unnumbered piece. Two marks fix it. The Coalport crown reads "Made in England," wording used from the 1920s onward, while the retailer's mark below reads RYRIE BROS, LTD — a Toronto firm that merged with Henry Birks & Sons in 1924 and stopped using that name.

Shropshire, and then Toronto. Ryrie Bros were Yonge Street jewellers who imported English china to sell beside their silver, stamping their name beneath the maker's — a useful habit now, since it tells you where the piece was sold as well as made. The "A.D. 1750" in the mark is Victorian salesmanship, not a founding date; John Rose established the works around 1795.