Pearlware Chinoiserie Charger

English pearlware charger, circa 1785.
 
Dimensions: Approximately 17” diameter
 
Decoration: 
The charger is decorated in a naïve hand-painted underglaze blue design.
 
The molded shell edge rim is decorated in blue.
 
The cavetto is decorated with a diaper band.
 
The center is decorated with an elaborate “pagoda and fence” design. 
 
The reverse is unmarked.
 
There seems to be some confusion over the term “pearlware” as distinguished from creamware. In their article “How Creamware Got the Blues: The origins of China Glaze and Pearlware” Ceramics in America” (2001), Miller and Hunter write that pearlware was fired with a tinted glaze intended to give the object the tone of Chinese porcelain. The glaze was referred to as “China Glaze”. The is opposed to creamware with its clear glaze on the object’s cream-colored body.
 
Condition: Minor glaze flaws; otherwise in excellent condition consistent with age and usage. Please examine the photos; they are part of the description.