William Billingsley (1758-1828)

A leading English porcelain painter who introduced a distinctive style of flower-painting that was fashionable during the first half of the 19th century.

He was apprenticed at the Derby porcelain factory in 1775. He left Derby in 1796 to set up the Pinxton factory. After a period at the Worcester factory between 1808 and 1813, he established a small porcelain factory at Nantgarw in Wales, but this was a financial failure and in 1819 he sold it to Coalport where he subsequently went to work.

He is best known for his naturalistic flower paintings but he also painted horses, landscapes, etc.