BACKGROUND:
Sutherland in the trade name refers to the location of their pottery works in Sutherland (Longton, Stoke-On-Trent) and the company H & M came into being around the time of WWII after two companies, W. Hudson and J.H. Middleton came together, with the new company being called Hudson & Middleton (H & M)
The company was reputed for their high-quality, British fine bone china known for durability featuring traditional delicate decorations
DLAT Rating 9.5/10 !!! (Darling Look At This!)
My wife has handed me her "bits & pieces" of this Pink themed "Strathmore" teaset that was once complete (including the Green and Blue teasets as well) EACH piece is available separately OR if you purchase more than one piece (any pieces) then automatic discounts come into play at the checkout. This means you can purchase a complete trio along with the pourer jug or just the teacup by itself - assuming the pieces remain available.
H & M (HUDSON & MIDDLETON) - Teacup, Saucer, Side Plate & Pourer Jug
Made in England
Circa period 1960's ~ 1970's
Trade name used by H & M was Sutherland China (being the location of their works)
Pattern name: Strathmore
Fine Bone China
Translucent, meaning if held to the light you can easily see your fingers through the china
The base china colouring is bright White
All decorative work appears to be a very good transfer-ware, NOT hand painted as upon extremely close examination I can see both dot art (typical of transfer-ware) and solid colouring as well.
Gold gilding has possibly been applied by hand although ONLY the teacup has a 4 digit pattern number Gold painted on the underside (undecipherable number)
There are no artists or decorators markings on any of the other pieces, just the backstamp.
BACKSTAMP:
This is the backstamp, common to all pieces except the teacup which has in addition the 4 digit number hand applied in Gold, as mentioned above.
DIMENSIONS:
These are standard teacups, saucers and side plates BUT I noticed that one each of the saucer and side plates was slighter LARGER than the others ... no idea why!
SAUCER: 136mm diameter (plus one at 140mm diameter)
SIDE PLATE: 156mm diameter (plus one at 158mm diameter)
TEACUP: 58mm height x 88mm mouth diameter
POURER: 85mm height (excluding the up raised spout) x 64mm inside diameter mouth
COSMETIC CONDITION:
This first section of my condition report equally applies to all pieces ... any differences that I have noticed are then described below this section
Gorgeous!
CLEAN
NO cracks on all pieces
NO crazing (both wet and dry tests) on all pieces
NO tannin staining to the inside of the teacup
NO significant wear n tear, scratching or damage to any of the decorative work on any piece
NO significant wear is apparent to the Gold gilding around the rims and on each side & down the back of both the teacup and pourer handle.
SAUCERS:
Two saucers have one or two minute fleabites to the underside, and I mean minute!
SIDE PLATES:
Each side plate has one fleabite on the underside, very difficult to see (no discolouration at all) or feel.
POURER JUG:
I noticed a slight "creaminess" inside the jug, at the base. Looking on the underside I can see that some discolouration has occurred around the base ring of the jug - Why? because this is the one area where glaze has not been applied. Looking into the jug is not badly discoloured (see the photograph inside) but slight marking is noticeable.
