Plate
1800-1820 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
Willow-pattern plates like this example could, at first glance, have been made yesterday. However, when this plate is handled, the thinness of the potting and the intense inky blue of the print reveal an early date, probably the first decade of the 19th century. Blue and white earthenware plates of this sort could be found throughout Britain at that time. Soon they would be flooding the markets of Europe.
Time
Improvements in fashionable table manners at the end of the 18th century, including the development of British dinner services, soon filtered down to the middle classes and below. To satisfy this new demand, cheap printed earthenware was invented. This new product made the fortune of pioneer manufacturers like the Spode family, who were able completely to sever their association with the pottery industry in 1833.
Trading
Blue and white printed pottery rapidly became the major export of the potteries in Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Scotland and elsewhere. Of all the thousands of patterns, it was one of the earliest, the Willow Pattern, which came to symbolise the whole class of pottery. Later, an elaborate romantic story was invented to explain the figures and birds in the pattern. Potters emigrated to other countries, taking with them moulds and engraved copper plates, to make British-style pottery in competition with British manufacturers.
Willow-pattern plates like this example could, at first glance, have been made yesterday. However, when this plate is handled, the thinness of the potting and the intense inky blue of the print reveal an early date, probably the first decade of the 19th century. Blue and white earthenware plates of this sort could be found throughout Britain at that time. Soon they would be flooding the markets of Europe.
Time
Improvements in fashionable table manners at the end of the 18th century, including the development of British dinner services, soon filtered down to the middle classes and below. To satisfy this new demand, cheap printed earthenware was invented. This new product made the fortune of pioneer manufacturers like the Spode family, who were able completely to sever their association with the pottery industry in 1833.
Trading
Blue and white printed pottery rapidly became the major export of the potteries in Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Scotland and elsewhere. Of all the thousands of patterns, it was one of the earliest, the Willow Pattern, which came to symbolise the whole class of pottery. Later, an elaborate romantic story was invented to explain the figures and birds in the pattern. Potters emigrated to other countries, taking with them moulds and engraved copper plates, to make British-style pottery in competition with British manufacturers.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Earthenware, transfer-printed in underglaze blue |
| Brief description | Plate, transfer-printed in blue, Willow pattern, Spode, Stoke-on-Trent, 1800-20 |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | Impressed mark 'SPODE' |
| Gallery label |
|
| Credit line | Given by Miss E. J. Hipkins |
| Object history | Made at the Spode factory, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire |
| Summary | Object Type Willow-pattern plates like this example could, at first glance, have been made yesterday. However, when this plate is handled, the thinness of the potting and the intense inky blue of the print reveal an early date, probably the first decade of the 19th century. Blue and white earthenware plates of this sort could be found throughout Britain at that time. Soon they would be flooding the markets of Europe. Time Improvements in fashionable table manners at the end of the 18th century, including the development of British dinner services, soon filtered down to the middle classes and below. To satisfy this new demand, cheap printed earthenware was invented. This new product made the fortune of pioneer manufacturers like the Spode family, who were able completely to sever their association with the pottery industry in 1833. Trading Blue and white printed pottery rapidly became the major export of the potteries in Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Scotland and elsewhere. Of all the thousands of patterns, it was one of the earliest, the Willow Pattern, which came to symbolise the whole class of pottery. Later, an elaborate romantic story was invented to explain the figures and birds in the pattern. Potters emigrated to other countries, taking with them moulds and engraved copper plates, to make British-style pottery in competition with British manufacturers. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.847-1925 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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