Pattern 136 Spode Creamware arcaded Dessert Dish/Plate measuring 7.25 inches in diameter. This hand-painted design produced in brown & caramel coloured enamels was introduced by Josiah Spode II c1799. The border shape of arches together with the inner moulded border of basket-weave was common to several manufacturers of this period.
This particular dish was produced exactly 100 years later in 1899 by Copeland, Spode in their Imperial ware (ivory-coloured earthenware) with a Registered Trade Number. It was probably reproduced to celebrate 100 years of trading since the introduction of bone china, although it seems very peculiar to celebrate 100 years of bone china production by producing a pottery plate?
Most marks are impressed on this plate but there is still a decorator's mark applied by hand in the form of a '+' in the enamel colour used to decorate the dish.
A Devonia shape Spode Creamware Dish in pattern 136 & dating to c1800 can be seen on the Spode Museum Trust website here:
A little bit of information regarding Josiah Spode I's family
Josiah Spode I's father was also named Josiah Spode but sadly he died when Josiah Spode I was aged 6 and was buried in a pauper's grave. His mother was Ellen Spode. Josiah Spode I was known as the first because he was successful in business.
Josiah Spode I was born in 1733. He already had pottery experience (probably as much as 10 years) when he was apprenticed to Thomas Whieldon at the age of 16. Apprenticeships usually lasted 7 years. He married Ellen Finley in 1754 aged 21 (she was 8 years his senior). She was also enterprisingly minded and ran her own business supplying haberdashery in Stoke.
Josiah Spode I & Ellen produced Josiah Spode II in 1755 followed by Samuel in 1757 and five daughters (the last one in 1777 when Ellen was 52 years old). He was able to purchase his own home in 1758 at the age of 25 so both of their employment activities had proved to be fruitful at this point.
Following this he had several different business partnerships; the first with Mr R Banks of Stoke Hall, the second with William Tomlinson and the third with Thomas Mountford. In 1776 (at the age of 43) he now owned his own factory which his two sons over-saw the day to day running for the first 3 years because Josiah Spode I was still tied to a contract with Mountford. By 1779 he was a free manufacturer.
Spode I would have been producing similar products to his contemporaries ie pottery with coloured glazes like Whieldon's, white & cream coloured & moulded salt glazed pottery, blue painted creamware, moulded creamware & red & black earthenwares like Wedgwood's Basalts but because none of them were marked or records kept it is almost impossible to identify objects with any certainty that were produced in his factory.
Black printed ceramics had been around for several decades but around 1784 Josiah Spode I successfully improved these methods and became well-known for blue printed earthenware in the Chinese taste. These were copies of Export Chinese blue & white porcelain which had been arriving for decades & which had been the preserve of only the wealthiest customers originally. This style of ware was still in demand by professional & merchant classes but with Import Duty rising to 47.5% in 1787 & by 150% in 1800 on Chinese porcelain so the door opened to British ceramic manufacturers to supply something similar. (Tea which was also imported from China saw its taxation rise as well but mostly it replaced porcelain imports coming into the UK). The main reason for these tax increases was because of the American War of Independence from 1775-1783 and the British Government's desperate need to raise more money through taxation but the up-side was a boom for British ceramic manufacturers.
His son, Josiah Spode II trained under his father to become a Master Potter & following his marriage, opened their London Showrooms in 1778 providing both retail & wholesale facilities for Spode ceramics & porcelain bought-in from other manufacturers of their day.
Around 1796 Josiah Spode I developed Bone China porcelain production methods which could easily & successfully be employed using his existing pottery kilns. This ease of production, without huge set-up or retraining staff costs would prove to be invaluable.
The formula used for Bone China was based on 25% each of china clay and china stone with 50% calcined ox bone but the discovery that the same two-firing process used for pottery production could be successfully used for bone china porcelain was key. He didn't live to see this success unfortunately as he suddenly took ill and died on 18th August 1797 & it would fall to his son Josiah Spode II to exploit this discovery.
Josiah Spode I was described as 'Mild, modest, and unobtrusive; averse from participating in general society, or public business, but sedulously devoted to his own particular pursuits'.