BACKGROUND:
Located in Longton, Staffordshire which is England’s historic centre of ceramic production, Thomas Poole had been in the ceramic world since the 1880's. In the early 1900's they started using the trade name, Royal Stafford and by the 1950's it was a name that was widely known for fine china products with elegant shapes, intricate designs and enduring quality. Royal Stafford became synonymous with fine English tableware that blended traditional craftsmanship with the evolving styles of the day.
This coffee set can be quite difficult to find due to the colouring. Royal Stafford is well known for their use of Colbalt Blue colours but less well known for Burgundy colouring. Perhaps more important are the centre pieces i.e the coffee pot, sugar bowl and creamer jug ... my wife says these are REALLY hard to find in reasonable condition (and she should know!)
Actually, we have called this a Burgundy colour, some may say it is Maroon ... on the colour chart below we feel the colour is closer to that on the left
Once again I have been instructed by "she who must be obeyed" to offer these pieces piecemeal, in other words each item is available by itself or with any number of other pieces. To sweeten the deal, the more pieces that are bought, a varying automatic discount is applied at the checkout area.
ROYAL STAFFORD - Coffee Set Pieces (Coffee Pot, Sugar Bowl, Creamer Jug, DEMI Cups & Saucers
Made in England
Circa early 1950's
The three major pieces (Coffee pot, sugar bowl and creamer jug) have the Registered Number 732562 as part of the backstamp. This number was allocated to Thomas Poole/Royal Stafford back in the late 1920's but these items are definitely not that early. This is simply a registration number and not the design number, they produced many other designs with this same registration number.
The demitasse cups and saucers are a different story, my wife feels these could well be later "replacements" as the backstamp differs in both the printing (using metallic Gold print) and there is no sign of the registration number.
The design comprises bold Burgundy bands of colour with extensive Gold trim and chintz patterns. Particularly interesting is the shape and design of the Coffee pot, sugar bowl and that wide mouthed creamer jug!
All pieces are fine bone china and of course, translucent. In fact these pieces are very lightweight and when held up to a light source, you can easily see the shadow of your fingers through the china, even through the Burgundy banding - this is very fine Bone china!
The Coffee pot, sugar bowl & creamer jug are all four footed.
BACKSTAMP PHOTOGRAPHS
Note the first three backstamps (Coffee pot, Sugar bowl & Creamer Jug) are all printed in a light Brown colour, unlike the demitasse cups and saucers.
COFFEE POT
SUGAR BOWL
CREAMER JUG
The following backstamps are printed using metallic Gold
DEMITASSE CUP
SAUCER
DIMENSIONS:
COFFEE POT: 115mm diameter (widest point) x 230mm height (including the elborate lid)
SUGAR BOWL: 110mm diameter x 60mm height (excluding the large end handles)
CREAMER JUG: 96mm diameter x 53mm height (excluding the spout and handle)
DEMITASSE CUP: 67mm diameter (mouth) x 60mm height
SAUCER: 123mm diameter
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Each piece is described in detail below ... please ensure you read this! If I felt a photograph may help explain anything that doesn't look quite right, these photographs are included in this section or in the main photographs.
COFFEE POT:
Clean
NO cracks observed
NO chips to the pot or the fancy lid
NO crazing (dry or wet) observed
NO discolouration to the White background nor the Burgundy banding
NO staining can be seen inside the coffee pot
Gold gilding (and there is a lot of it) looks to be in very good condition with no areas showing signs of handling or washing wear
NOTE: Such an elaborate lid! Very fancy design and a nice touch with the small hole allowing steam to escape from the pot.
NO tiny White "dots" anywhere on the Burgundy banding
SUGAR BOWL:
Clean
NO cracks observed
NO chips observed
NO crazing (dry or wet) observed
NO discolouration to the White background nor the Burgundy banding
Gold gilding (and there is a lot of it) looks to be in very good condition with no areas showing signs of handling or washing wear
NOTES:
While carefully inspecting the Burgundy banding, I notice one only tiny areas where the colour seems to have been "knocked" away - not a chip but the area affected shows as a tiny White dot. I guess at some time this knocked against something which dislodged a small part of the colouring. Please take a look at one of the main photographs which clearly shows this "dot"
Additionally, down inside the sugar bowl I can see a very light "Greyness" and I have no idea what this is. There is no corresponding mark on the underneath (outside), perhaps a partial glazing failure but due to Sugar?!? I am not convinced of this. Here is a closeup photograph ...
CREAMER JUG:
Clean
NO cracks observed
NO chips observed
NO crazing (dry or wet) observed
NO discolouration to the White background nor the Burgundy banding
NO staining can be seen inside the jug
Gold gilding (and there is a lot of it) looks to be in very good condition with no areas showing signs of handling or washing wear
NOTE:While carefully inspecting the Burgundy banding, I notice two tiny areas where the colour seems to have been "knocked" away - not a chip but the area affected has a tiny White dot. I guess at some time this knocked against something which dislodged a small part of the colouring. Please take a look at the photograph where this is highlighted with a White circle.
CUPS (Demitasse):
Clean
NO cracks observed on either cup
NO chips to any either the cups
NO crazing (dry or wet) observed on either cup
NO discolouration to the White background nor the Burgundy banding
NO staining can be seen in the central White area of either cup
Gold gilding (and there is a lot of it) looks to be in very good condition on both teacups, even the extensive Gold gilding on the tiny handles appears unworn.
I did see just one tiny White "dot" within the Burgundy banding of one cup ONLY, the other cup is completely without any "dots"
SAUCERS (Demitasse):
Clean
NO cracks observed on any saucer
NO chips to any of the saucers
NO crazing (dry or wet) observed on any saucer
NO discolouration to the White background nor the Burgundy banding
NO staining can be seen in the central White area of any saucer
Gold gilding (and there is a lot of it) looks to be in pretty good condition on all saucers, no issues with the outer rims but the saucers do exhibit light wear to the Gold Chintz pattern in the central area to varying degrees ... a couple barely noticeable and the other two just slightly more wear - I don't consider any of this wear to be catastrophic though!
NO tiny White "dots" anywhere on the Burgundy banding of any saucer
A pretty impressive example of Royal Stafford, 75+ years ago, particularly the coffee pot, sugar bowl and creamer jug ... bold and proud!
Of course I will ensure the packing of any of these items is extremely safe and suitable to travel, I have sent a LOT of my wife's chinaware and not had an issue yet. Even though these pieces are "leaving home" we still care about them and do not wish to see them destroyed by the shipping services (Australia Post)
