Pattern 1566 Spode white-coloured-earthenware moulded Lizard Perfume Bottle complete with stopper. This is a delightful object. The ground is in a chocolate brown enamel with a sgraffito design of curled fern fronds scratched through its surface to reveal the lower layer of white ceramic. Over this is a couple of exotic looking pink blooms together with green foliage & some pretty blue flowers. It is topped with a band of gilt. This pattern was introduced by Spode II c1810.
The elegant flowers look Chinese, perhaps they are peonies.
It is a joy, what a pleasing design. I wonder if this idea was copied from somewhere or whether it was an original Spode pattern? I suspect that the original design was Chinese.
It is nice to have the stopper for this bottle, so many were either broken or lost
No pattern mark but there is a decorator's mark. There are also old collector labels which I always keep if possible as it is so nice to know who looked after it before it became my responsibility. It seems such a shame that these old labels are very often torn off and discarded prior to selling the piece.
Geoffrey Fisk was a keen collector of English Ceramics and he was extremely knowledgeable on the subject. His collection was sold by Phillips of New Bond Street, London 3rd May 2000.
A Spode Toy Cabaret Set in pattern 1566 was sold by Bonham's Lot 506 part of the Copeland China Collection at Trelissick House, Cornwall July 2013 see details here: https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21214/lot/506/?category=list&length=10&page=51