Pattern 557 Spode bone china Bute shape Tea Cup bat printed with print P274 (HS) Horden House, Oxfordshire, home of Mrs Harwood which was included in their 'Notable Buildings' series. The original artist was Richard Corbould (1757-1831) whose work was published in Copperplate Magazine in 1792 and many of the illustrations were copied by Josiah Spode II for decorative purposes c1803.
The relevance of (HS) with the print number is with respect to an Old Oval shape Tea Service bat printed with landscapes in charcoal grey which was according to family tradition in the ownership of Hester Dudley nee Savoury with the likely purchase of it for her marriage. Hester Savoury was the eldest child of Joseph Savory of Cheapside, London, a goldsmith & a Quaker. She was born in 1777, married on 1 July 1802 to Charles Dudley, a merchant and sadly died of a fever on 9 February 1803. 46 pieces of this Service remain and only 3 of the main pieces are marked with 557 in gilt.
If correct this would suggest that Josiah Spode II's pattern 557 bat printed landscape wares were introduced in 1802 rather than 1803 & these early dates which I am suggesting are for guide-line purposes only and may be out by a year.
On glaze glue Bat Printing was a method developed using sheets of glutinous jelly like material approximately 3mm thick which were elastic and very flat & smooth. They were ideal for transferring minute quantities of oil without spreading or smudging from the design copperplate to the object requiring decoration, however this ability occasionally resulted in stretched or distorted designs.
Charcoal grey bat printed porcelain was introduced by Josiah Spode II c1802-3. This was followed c1804 by blue enamel bat printing, reddish brown, known as French Brown c1810, gold c1811, red c1817 or possibly earlier, purple c1818, rose c1819 & green c1821. Between 1827 & 1833 other colours were also produced.
Bat printed designs on Pattern 557 objects depicted, romantic ruins set in landscapes, cottages & rural life, bridges, rivers & fishermen and notable houses & castles of the wealthy & lastly classical humanity scenes.
Bat printing was an ideal method for an inexpensive range of decorative teaware with the added advantage of showing off Josiah Spode's beautifully white and (almost) blemish free porcelain, which at the time, was the best English porcelain that money could buy.
The usual Spode gilding down the kinked handle & a nice clean interior to this cup.
Slight kiln dust and no marks to identify the manufacturer.
Following the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 & the death of Admiral Nelson Josiah Spode II produced a bat printed Bute shape tea cup to commemorate the events which can be seen in the Royal Museums Greenwich London here: https://prints.rmg.co.uk/products/porcelain-teacup-e6027
This bat printed Spode bone china Bute shaped Tea Cup is rather worn but this particular print P208 (HS) from the 'Landscape & Ruins' series is one of the first that the company produced c1802/3. The gilding down the kinked handle is the expected Spode pattern & there are no marks to its base as you would expect for this early period.
This is a Spode bone china Porter Mug decorated with charcoal enamel bat print P231 from the 'Landscapes & Ruins' series together with rich gilding. I am told by the Spode Museum Trust that although this item is decorated with bat prints & gilding in much the same manner as their pattern number 557 items, they are not actually referred to as pattern number 557 pieces; regardless of this fact I have decided to include it here as it seems logical.
The gilders used various border designs to enhance the bat prints & they would have been produced around a similar period to the other early Spode bat printed pieces c1802-3.
A lovely Spode handle.
This is bat print P214 from the 'Landscapes & Ruins' series which is an early Spode print. These Spode Porter Mugs measured just under 4 inches or 10 cms in width (excluding the handle) & were 3.5 inches or 9 cms deep. I haven't checked yet to find out how much liquid they hold but I would imagine it would be approximately between 1/2 - 3/4 of a pint (10-15 fl ozs).
The inside of this Porter Mug is clean & there are no makers marks on its base.
Pattern 557 Spode bone china Bute shape Coffee Can decorated with bat print P232 from the 'Country Scenes' series & rich gilding. You can see an important house on the distant hill set in a woodland landscape & a far less important house sits on the opposite hill in the foreground. Two locals are having a natter & in the middle distance there is a fishing boat. The whole composition is an early 19th century romantic view of the English countryside.
This Spode coffee can is not marked to its base as you would expect for this period.
This is a Spode pattern 557 bone china Bute shape Coffee Can decorated with bat print P243 from the 'Bridges & Rivers' series together with rich gilding. It is Llangollen Bridge over the river Dee.
Notice Spode's band & line gilding, similar bat prints were used by his competitors, New Hall & Chamberlain Worcester but always with subtle differences.
The usual Spode kinked handle with its distinctive gilding pattern & no marks to the base of the can, just a crack unfortunately.
This is a pattern 557 Spode bone china Saucer decorated with bat print P249 which was part of the 'Bridges, Rivers & Fishing' series together with rich band & line gilding.
The base of this is exactly as you would expect for a Spode bone china Saucer c1802-1806. Josiah Spode II was given a Royal endorsement in 1806 by the Prince Regent & following this more Spode pieces are marked in red enamel with their pattern number and/or the name Spode.
Pattern 557 Spode bone china Bute shape Coffee Can decorated with bat print P254 (HS) which was part of the 'Cottages' series of prints together with rich band & line gilding.
Again the base of this Spode Coffee Can is unmarked which is usual.
This is a pattern 557 Spode bone china Bute shape Coffee Can bat printed with print P256 (HS) from the 'Cottages' series of prints introduced by Josiah Spode II c1802-3 together with rich band & line gilding. (HS) means an identical one was found in the Hester Savoury Service. It depicts a simplified & probably romanticised, rural life landscape, comprising of country folk chatting, a cottage, a hill-top windmill in the middle distance & a church steeple & spire in the far distance indicating a local village on the other side of the hill.
There are no marks to the base of this coffee can.
This is a pattern 557 Spode bone china Bute shape Coffee Can decorated with bat print P258 (HS) from the 'Cottages' series of prints which were printed in charcoal enamel & embellished with rich band & line gilding.
This is a pattern 557 Spode bone china Bute shape Coffee Can decorated with bat print P262 (HS) from the 'Cottages' series of prints.
Here is Spode's bat print P262 (HS) from the 'Cottages' series on a pattern 557 bone china Bute shape Tea Cup together with band & line gilding.
A Pattern 557 Spode bat printed Creamer of c1805. These bat prints are from the P400 'Animals, Birds, Sporting Subjects & Armorials' series as detailed in 'Spode Transfer Printed Ware 1784-1833' written by David Drakard & Paul Holdway. The pair of Swans is P412 printed in charcoal enamel.
This bat print is P405 a pair of Rabbits. The original source of this was found in a two volume edition of 'Cabinet of Quadrupeds' published in London in 1805. These Spode bat printed tea ware items were popular for many years & were still being produced with variations up to Josiah Spode II's death in 1827.
As I have mentioned before, all these porcelain pieces were hand-decorated & are unique. This piece actually has a worker's finger-print on it of c1805 in iron-red enamel together with a broken line of gilding which has appeared in the wrong place.
The distinctive Josiah Spode II gilt handle
The usual kiln dust particles
This creamer is boldly marked with its pattern number '557' in gilt