HISTORY:
From time to time (actually quite a lot lately!) my wife has these moments ... "this has to find a new home" chinaware and sometimes what she gives me a piece that is just a bit "special", this Spode tableware definitely falls into this class. It is in fact a great example of mid 20th Century 'coloured Spode tableware'
If it is so special, why is she showing it the door? Her tastes have moved to OLD wares, I mean really old (and difficult to find) earthenware, china and porcelain - basically pre-1900's as far back in time as possible. When compared to those pieces, this is a 'youngster' plus this is quite large and takes up a lot of space in one of the "china cabinets"!
Actually this is not chinaware, but in fact this is earthenware and not the more common Blue or Pink Spodeware but featuring a multicoloured decoration.
A few things make this quite special, first is the maker - William Copeland & Josiah Spode II began their operations way way back in the early 1800's, producing products of exceptional quality. Mr Spode passed away and Mr Copeland took the reins of the business until his retirement, the business then being run by his sons.
Secondly, this is hand decorated by the works artist, using a combination of solid brush strokes, dot painting and cross-hatching. Dominant colouring is Green in various shades, with some Yellows and Red-Burgundy blends. Pretty traditional garland of flowers and foliage in a border around the top edges of the plate with the central area having been left completely undecorated.
Thirdly, the company usually (but not always) made life a bit easier for the collector by impressing into the clay a coding system for dating purposes ... for sure, many other makers also helped with the dating of their products, such as Royal Doulton with their numbers to the side of the backstamp but very few actually impressed a code into the clay. Oh the joy of confidently estimating the production year and month!
Finally, this Spode/Copeland dinner tableware is a prime example of their products immediately following the cessation of the WWII conflict and before the Copeland's lost control of the company in 1966 - after that year there were many changes to the ownership and even to the extent that manufacturing went offshore (to China of course) in the 1990's
The design is "Olde World" and yet still remains perfectly comfortable on a modern table - some might say "ageless", a bit like the Swedish group Abba!
Enough of the preamble ... let me tell you about this historically significant piece
DLAT rating 9/10 (Darling, Look At This!)
COPELAND & SPODE Dinner Tableware - Serving Plate
Circa 1948 (based on the backstamp layout design and the impressed Y above 48 (Y indicating May)
Made In England
Earthenware NOT Bone China
Opaque, meaning that you CANNOT see through the material when held up to the light
Pattern: NANCY
Border garland of variously coloured flowers interconnected with foliage, coloured but when you look more closely the only colours actually used were Green (various shades), Yellow and a Burgundy - no Pinks, Blues etc
Background colour is a clean, White.
NO Gold gilding or other "frills"
Shape: Rectangular with a wide lip all around but no specific handles built in. Quite a shallow plate (not really a dish) which measures approximately 15mm depth.
BACKSTAMP DETAILS:
Makers mark printed on the base of the serving plate
Note that the impressed date coding was difficult enough to read with the naked eye or magnifying glass but even more difficult in these photographs, in fact invisible! After some experimenting, I found that holding this plate up to the daylight, outside, did seem to be the easiest way to read the stamped coding. The coding that is impressed into the clay is ...
Y
48
There are some other stampings which appear to be COPELAND SPODE ENGLAND
Note the decoration worker's markings below the main backstamp
DIMENSIONS:
322mm x 242mm
WEIGHT: 900g
COSMETIC CONDITION:
CLEAN
NO cracks
NO chips
NO discolouration observed to the White base or the decorative design
EXCEPT! I can see a very light Brownish mark to one side of the rim (see the last photograph) which did actually slowly 'disappear' when cleaning with a cloth soaked in soapy water but didn't completely disappear. No other marks were observed.
NO damage or wear is apparent to the decorative work although if viewed closely you can see the "human touch" (little slips of the hand when applying colours etc) as you would expect.
NO significant knife or scratch markings to the central area
Crazing can be seen when viewed in the "right light" but it is very light and not associated with any discolouration. I checked the plate also when Wet, no substantial change at all - meaning the glaze has broken down slightly but nothing really bad which could have allowed bacteria to make their homes underneath the glazing.
NO fleabites on the underside at all
Overall, this is another nice example of Spode - Copeland product from the late 1940's and in very good condition considering its creation was almost 80 years ago!
