Maker: Adams  Pattern: Scene After Claude Lorraine

Absolutely magnificent, one of the finest soup tureens we have ever seen.
This design goes under various names: Claude Lorraine, Lorraine, After Claude Lorraine, Scene after Claude Lorraine and sometimes Blue Claude. The maker was Benjamin Adams, one of the famous and numerous Adams family of potters, and he operated Greengates Pottery at Tunstall, Staffordshire from c1809 to 1820.
The design is derived from the paintings of Claude Lorraine, who although born in Nancy, spent most of his life in Italy, where he studied and established a reputation as a landscape painter. Many of his paintings have similar features: groups of trees, a ruin or bridge, all backed by mountains and rivers. Port scenes were another favourite, painted in the same style. His work inspired patterns produced by Riley, Leeds, Wedgwood and at least one unknown maker, in addition to that by Adams.
It is believed that Adams commissioned William Brookes, a noted freelance engraver to produce his Lorraine design. Brookes was working from c1800 to 1838, first at Tunstall and later at Burslem. He is known to have worked for Davenport and Wedgwood, as well as Adams. Certainly the engraving of Lorraine is of the finest quality.
Benjamin Adams' production seems to have been consistently of a very high quality, with both the potting and printing displaying great skill and with the subtle use of shades of blue to create a calm, classical look to his wares.
A full range of dinnerware, including dessert services, was produced in this design. Plates may be found relatively often, but platters and the shapes, such as tureens, vegetable dishes and comports are now rare.
This tureen is in excellent condition. The glaze to all three pieces is finely crazed. There is a chip to the inner rim of the cover. On the tureen there is a minor hairline on the rim and a firing crack from manufacture inside the base. On display it looks perfect. The glaze is bright and clean and the ensemble shines with quality.
The stand and tureen have impressed backstamps B. Adams. Stand 14 x 11.75 ins 35.5 x 30 cm.
A centre piece to grace any dining table, this is a stunning example of the sheer quality of the early 19th century master potter.
Provenance: The Patricia Davies Collection.

Dimensions: Tureen 29 x 21.5 cm 28 cm high / Tureen 11.5 x 8.5 ins 11 ins high