In a message dated 97-09-02 06:54:11 EDT, you write:
 
<< The wares Alasadair describes (if I'm interpreting him correctly) are not
 really blue-painted - they are moulded white bodies (I won't vouch for
 porcelain vs any other type of paste) with applied designs highlighted in a
 mauve-blue underglaze, and are usually tea and tablewares.  What they
 resemble most of all is the decorative icing on wedding cakes... Here too
 (Australia) they seem to be mid-late 19th century, 1850s-1890s.  They
 really are ubiquitous, and show up on practically every site of that date.
  >>
 
Ok, now I think I understand the ware being described...  In the Midwest U.S.
"Chelsea" usually refers to refined whitewares with blue or lavender floral
appliques around the rim.  I have always assumed that these appliques were
crafted from colored clays and applied prior to final firing.  It would
appear to be very similar in technological form to the classic Wedgwood use
of contrasting color appliques on a dissimilar colored background.
 
In fact, I'm using a Chelsea saucer on my office desk as an ashtray (AGH!).
 The piece I have is marked ENOCH WOOD/BURSLEM/DRESDEN CHINA/IRONSTONE, but
it would clearly fall into the harder white earthenware range.  I would also
note that it has a 14-sided rim, which would likely fall into the ca. 1845-55
date range, as do many of the other examples that I have observed.
 
Mark C. Branstner
Great Lakes Research Associates, Inc.