The Farnley Hall Service: A Unique Survivor in Nantgarw Porcelain

This book covers the discovery and the results of the analytical study of the composition of the Farnley Hall service, involving both the embossed moulding and the decorative compositions. The discovery of this missing porcelain service, which was manufactured 200 years ago, is a modern detective story in the preservation of cultural heritage, whilst its physical analysis has identified some new data that need to be incorporated into correcting and expanding the literature that is used for the differentiation of porcelains by ceramic historians and museum conservators. The importance of the Farnley Hall service discovery is that it provides the only example of such a Nantgarw Porcelain service that still resides in its original place of usage from 200 years ago: it is therefore a unique example and is a very important part of our national cultural heritage. It provides an illustration of the data that can be accessed from the application of inductive reasoning to elicit novel information about a manufactory whose work books no longer exist and its comparison with contemporary manufactories in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The concepts can be appreciated by experts and also by non-technical readers. This is the first time that such a detailed research approach has been adopted for any comparative ceramic project. The book is therefore relevant for a specialist and non-specialist readership, including museum ceramics curators and collectors of the genre.