Pattern 1839 Spode bone china Bute shape Coffee Can & Saucer decorated in another Imari design introduced c1812. I think of this as my 'Irish Imari' because of the green enamel and because I purchased it from someone in Ireland. These designs were obviously very popular with Spode II's customers because he produced many variations on this theme.
These hand-painted & gilded pieces are wonderful & I particularly like Spode's Imari designs which use a good dollop of green enamel. The quality shines out.
The design was probably copied by Josiah Spode II from a piece of Chinese or Japanese Export porcelain. The centre of the saucer has what appears to be ancient Chinese scrolls.
This example is in very good condition for its age and its previous owners have looked after it very well. I wonder how many previous owners it has had during its 200+ years of life and where it sat in their homes? It doesn't look as if it was used for coffee drinking during those years & I suspect its purpose was either to indicate its owner's good taste & social status or it was a special memento handed down from a family member (or a combination of the two).
This can has its pattern number '1839' written in gilt (which usually means that it is an early production because the use of gilt for pattern marking was phased out due to the added cost & replaced with iron-red enamel). The can also has a red decorator's mark & the saucer has a green enamel decorator's mark. I think the blue on the saucer is just a smudge.