A WORCESTER (FLIGHT) OVAL PLATTER FROM THE 'HOPE SERVICE', COMMISSIONED BY THE DUKE OF CLARENCE (LATER KING WILLIAM IV), CIRCA 1790

H.R.H. William Henry, Duke of Clarence, later H.M. King William IV, thence by descent to:

George Augustus Frederick FitzClarence, Earl of Munster;

Elizabeth, Countess of Erroll and her husband William George, 18th Earl of Erroll;

Charles, 20th Earl of Erroll, sale Christie's 11th May 1893, lots 104-165

This platter comes from the service commissioned by William, Duke of Clarence (later King William IV), third son of King George III, who used it at his home Bushy House in south west London.

The service comprised over 260 pieces and cost the Duke 800 guineas. John Flight, the proprietor of the factory recorded in his diary in January 1790:

‘We used our two best painters last week to make some very fine designs for the Duke of Clarence, we have already completed 3 plates and I have sent them to London. One is a gold arabesque design, another the figure of Hope, the other of Patience.’ The service was displayed to the public at Flight's factory before it was dispatched to London in April 1791.

In 1797, King George III, offered William the post of Ranger of Bushy Park. It is here that William lived with his mistress, the actress Dorothea Jordan, and their ten illegitimate children, all of whom were given the surname FitzClarence. The service seemingly is then passed to his 6^th child with Dorothea, his daughter Elizabeth, who in 1820 became the Countess of Errol upon marrying William Hay, the 18^th Earl of Erroll. It remained in the collection of the Earls of Erroll until it was sold by Charles, 20th Earl of Erroll, at Christie's on May 11, 1893, lots 104-165. A large group of pieces from the service was sold at Christie's London, February 16, 1900, lots 228-246.  

Since the turn of the century pieces have infrequently appeared at auction. Fifty-three pieces were sold at Christie's, London, February 24, 1997, lot 65, formerly from the Collection of Sir Henry Sutcliffe-Smith, sold, Christie's London, June 7, 1976, lot 39. Two plates were sold at Sotheby’s New York, April 7, 2004, lot 53, and a further plate was sold at Sotheby's London, October 5, 2005, lot 126. Three large platters (17 ¼ in. wide) from the service, were sold at Christie’s New York, May 18, 2006, lot 518. The service is discussed in some detail by Henry Sandon, Flight and Barr Worcester Porcelain, pp. 27, 28, 230 and 231.

The service had long been somewhat romantically associated to Horatio Lord Nelson, perhaps prompted by its nautical subject and the figures of Hope bearing a likeness to Emma Hamilton's famous 'Attitudes'.