Beautiful vintage porcelain butter or cheese dome and dish

An absolutely beautiful and charmingly elegant and dainty vintage cheese dome or butter dish, believed to date to the early part of the 20th Century, although the date and manufacturer are not known. There are no maker's marks and the only marking on the piece is a hand painted gliding brush mark number on the inside of the dome.

This lovely dish is made of glazed porcelain and has a highly decorated, yet very simple and elegant style. The base has a raised, pierced work, moulded edge that has been hand painted with gold coloured gilding to highlight the pattern. It has a rounded inset bowl with a raised lip for the lid to seat over and a pedestal style foot. It is topped with a matching domed lid that sits beautifully on the base. The dome is moulded with morning glory style climbing flowers and swags that have been hand painted with the gold coloured gilding. The dome is topped by a moulded, floral style handle.

It is very pretty and a joy to look at. Ornate, yet very elegant and would fit any setting. It could also be used just as a lovely piece of decorative china or as a hidden catchall for keys etc on a shelf or table. Or for olives, lemon slices or bonbons.

The dome has a lovely ring, like a bell when it is lifted off of, or placed back onto, the base and the fine white high shine glaze and gilding catches the light and sparkles. Overall the item is in very good vintage used condition but there are a couple of points to mention. The dome has no damage at all, although there are a couple of little manufacturing irregularities in the porcelain beneath the glaze. There are a few tiny pin prick dark spots that have developed within the clay from impurities. The rim of the dome is not glazed. This has a little age related discolouration on the bisque rim. There is a small, hand pierced hole in the top of the dome to allow ventilation.

The base is similar in that there are a few spots in the clay in the bowl and one or two minor moulding irregularities. The unglazed bisque foot on the underside also shows age related discolouration.

The base also has a fine hairline star shaped glaze crack in the bottom of the bowl on the underside. This is very fine but there is the tiniest hint of it being visible on the upper side of the bottom of the bowl too, where moisture has entered and it has discoloured the clay very slightly. It is not easy to see, but it is there. Otherwise the base has no damage.

Throughout both items the gilding is generally in good condition, but there are some areas of slight wear and because it has been hand applied there is some variation in thickness of the lines.

The item measures approximately 11cm tall and 20cm in diameter across the widest part of the base. The diameter of the dome is 15cm at its widest.

Please look carefully at all of the photographs and the video as these form part of the description and help to show condition, scale and colour.