Pattern 558 Spode bone china Bute shape Slop Bowl bat printed in charcoal enamel with print P302, 'The Marriage Proposal' complete with cupid! This print was part of Spode's 'Classical Humanity' series. With the introduction of pattern 558 c1802-3 Josiah Spode II produced a more opulent range of the printed pattern 557.
A Slop Bowl was always sold as part of a Tea/Coffee Service and as the name suggests it was designed to hold the slops from the first cup of tea when moving on to the second.
Lavish gilding designed to impress guests. The Bute shape Slop Bowl was rounded but when Josiah Spode II introduced his London shape ware in 1813 the sides of the Slop Bowl became straight/angular to match the cup shapes. So these lovely bowls were only produced between c1800 & c1813 apart from special order replacement pieces.
Bat print P274 (HS) of Horden House, Oxfordshire. Other etchings of notable buildings were used for decorative purposes by Spode, some of which have been identified although not all have and some are no longer in existence. Many Scottish Castles were depicted in this series of illustrations.
Just a single speck of kiln dust which in the very early years of developing bone china was unavoidable.
Clearly marked in gilt with its pattern number '558' on its base. Main items of a Tea/Coffee Service were often (but not always) marked with the pattern number. In the early years pattern numbers were marked in gilt but later on it became usual to use iron-red enamel for this purpose. Clearly this is an early piece of Spode bone china.
A 22cm diameter Large Saucer Dish/plate in this same Spode pattern 558 can be seen in the Victoria & Albert Collection here: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O71500/plate-spode-ceramic-works/
This Spode Slop Bowl is another item which came to me from an Antique Dealer in Geelong, Australia & I suspect it was part of the Copeland China Collection which was sold by Bonham's at Trelissick House, Cornwall in 2013. See my pattern 453 & 1185 for further details.
A pattern 558 Spode bone china Old Oval shape Sugar Box & lid decorated with dark charcoal enamel bat prints & lavish gilding. The bat print on this side is P214 from their 'Landscape Ruins' series of prints. This is a very early Spode print & shape both suggesting an early date of production c1802-03. The print on the lid is P225 (HS).
This is the same pattern 558 Spode bone china Old Oval shape Sugar Box & lid and it is decorated with dark charcoal enamel bat print P219 (HS) from the 'Landscape Ruins' series on this main side together with print P224 (HS) on the lid.
You can see that this Spode Sugar Box is marked to its base with an impressed potter's number & its pattern number '558' is hand written boldly in gilt which has worn but is still easy to read.
This is a pattern 558 Spode bone china Coffee Can bat printed with print P262 (HS), from the 'Cottages' series, as described in the book, 'Spode Transfer Printed Ware 1784-1833' by David Drakard & Paul Holdway. The relevance of the (HS) is with regard to an early Spode Tea Service known as the Hester Savory Service in which these first bat printed landscapes appeared.
Rival manufacturers also produced very similar printed wares these included New Hall, Miles Mason and Chamberlain's Worcester. These were sometimes produced from the same source print and so can look very similar to Spode's.
Josiah Spode II's rich gilding
Josiah Spode II's signature handle
This little coffee can has been well cared for over the last 200+ years.
Almost clean inside
No pattern number or decorator's marks on its base which is completely normal for this period. Only the main pieces of a Tea/Coffee Service were marked to their bases & very often it was simply the pattern number in gilt.
Pattern 558 Spode bone china Bute shape Tea Cup bat printed with print P258 (HS), from the 'Cottages' series.
Pattern 558 Spode bone china Bute shape Tea Cup bat printed with P243 'Llangollen Bridge', over the river Dee, this design is from the series, 'Bridges & Rivers'.
The same cup as above, here showing the rich gilt decoration & the Spode 'kinked' handle.
Another Spode pattern 558 bone china Bute shape Tea Cup bat printed with P302 'The Marriage Proposal', complete with cupid, from the series 'Classical & Contemporary Humanity'.
This is a large Spode bone china Saucer for a Breakfast Cup. It is again Spode's pattern 558 and it is bat printed with P252 from the 'Cottages' series together with the matching ornate & richly gilded border.
I wonder if the engraver of this particular design had the initials M H? If so, he has managed to sneak them into his work on the side of the house. This is not the first copper plate engraving to be signed, another one has been recorded on print P227 & it includes a date of 1811.
This Spode Breakfast Saucer is marked to its base with both 'SPODE' & its pattern number '558' in red enamel suggesting a date c1812 but very often the earliest pieces are not marked.