Pair plates "Warren Hastings"

A very near pair of plates in ‘Warren Hastings’ shape, with fine rococo moulding, decorated with geese and other birds to the reserves; typical sprays and sprigs to the wells.

The name for this shape comes from a famous set:

Among the more famous of the Chelsea patterns of dinner service are the Warren Hastings and the Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The former is so called because a set was sold with that remarkable man's effects at Daylesford House in 1818. The pattern is described as having the border moulded into three panels of scroll-work separated by a diaper pattern in low relief; these are painted in colours. 

In each of the panels a landscape is carefully painted. The centre of the pieces shows a bouquet and detached flowers. The Mecklenburg-Strelitz is equally sought for by those interested in old Chelsea. - Chelsea and Chelsea-Derby China, Egan Mew, 1910.

The Hastings name has also become attached to the shape, which is also found with fables or birds in the panels; the variation with birds is consideably rarer than the landscapes.

We're unsure whether these two plates constitute a pair. Clearly they are the same pattern, factory and period; and the typed label to the back of the first suggests they have been together for some time. However, the flower-painting is obviously a different hand on each plate; and we suspect the birds are also. It is not known whether a set would have been painted entirely by a the same artist (or pair of artists); they could have been together their whole lives, or they might have been married by a discerning collector. After much thought we have decided to keep them together.