A Chamberlain Worcester small dish from the 'Horatia service', circa 1802-03
Of oval shape with a lobed rim, richly-decorated with the 'Fine Old Japan' pattern no.240, the Imari border reserving four gold-ground medallions, the ends of the dish painted with a Ducal coronet and a Viscount's coronet, the side panels with the crests of the San Josef and Nelson's chelengk, 25.2cm wide, marked in full Chamberlains Worcester 240
Footnotes:
Provenance
Vice-Admiral Horatio, Lord Nelson
Emma, Lady Hamilton

The original order for the Horatia Service, given to Chamberlain's in Worcester during Nelson's visit in August 1802, included '5 small dishes'. When the final invoice was drawn up in 1806, these are itemised as '4 Dishes 10 in' and '1 ditto 12 in' These cost £1.7s and £1.16s each. In addition, the individual crests and coronets cost another 8 shillings per dish. In the Chamberlain factory order, there is an additional charge for painting '5 Eqyptian Egrets' at 2/6d each. The oval dishes are the only shapes in the set that have four heraldic panels rather than three, and thus an extra egret (or chelengk) appears on the present lot.

In the 'Trickey Inventory' of Lady Hamilton's possessions, drawn up circa 1813 as surety for a loan, the component parts of the 'Horatia Set' are listed. These dishes are incorrectly described as part of a supper set, matching them with a hot water plate from the service.

The present lot is one of the four 10 inch dishes from the set. The 12 inch dish is now in the National Maritime Museum, no.AAA4544. Another of the 10 inch dishes was in the Charles Wentworth Wass Collection, exhibited by Thomas Goode & Co. in 1898, catalogue no. 60. This dish is now in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto and is illustrated by John Sandon, Dictionary of Worcester Porcelain (1993), p.243.

For further information on the Horatia Service please see the footnote to lot 41 in this sale.