Pattern 916 Spode bone china porcelain Bute shape Coffee Can with platinum lustre decoration, this design was introduced c1806. This design is a variation on Spode's pattern 878 which was a popular design, with the addition of the newly developed lustre.
When platinum lustre was applied to Spode's white porcelain it had the appearance of dark silver or lead & it was used together with enamels & gilt.
John Hancock, a ceramic colourist who worked for Henry Daniel decorating Spode's wares was the claimed inventor of this type of lustre decoration.
I believe 33 different Spode patterns containing platinum lustre have been identified and they ranged from pattern number 800 through to 949 which would date them all to between 1805 and 1806. Although some of these same patterns were reproduced during the later Copeland & Garrett period (1833-1847) no further Spode lustre patterns were developed after 1806. Wedgwood didn't develop his 'Moonlight' gold lustre product until c1810.
Perhaps it proved to be difficult to manage during firing, I have no idea why this form of decoration was stopped at Spode but platinum lustre became hugely popular later on in the 19th century and was used by many English pottery manufacturers to decorate their wares & to imitate Silver goods. Whole pottery tea services decorated in platinum lustre to mimic silver could be purchased c1840.
This Spode Coffee Can shows slight wear but looks remarkably good given its early age & it is quite rare given the very short production period.
As would have been usual for this c1806 period, it is completely unmarked to its base.