Period: Regency
Maker: James & Ralph Clews
A delightful pair of breakfast saucers by James and Ralph Clews, hand-painted with two anglers, holding fishing rods and baskets, in rural landscapes. The elaborately decorated border is in the Clews ‘841 pattern.’
James and Ralph Clews were active for less than two decades, from about 1815 to 1834, at a pottery in Cobridge, a village in what is now Stoke-on-Trent. Their porcelain production was even shorter, from about 1821 to 1825.
The Clews brothers specialized in blue transfer-printed earthenware, and served mainly the American and Russian markets, styling themselves ‘Potters to her Imperial Majesty, the Empress of all the Russians.’ Popular subjects were ‘Zoological Gardens,’ ‘American Views’ and their ‘Doctor Syntax’ series.
Clews porcelains are much less well known, probably because they were unmarked. Many are in their 841 pattern, of which other versions of appear on 19th Century porcelains of many other British makers. The pattern’s basic elements, according to Michael Berthoud, are “a deeply scalloped blue border containing roughly rectangular yellow panels containing a gilt flower or anthemion.” There is also a ‘melting’ inner edge.
The 841 pattern and its imitators tend to have painted scenes in the centre. These may be rustic figures, scenes from Dr. Syntax or Don Quixote, or occasionally, with some other factories, sprays of enamelled flowers instead of figures.
Condition The saucer with the man dressed in green jacket and tails is in very good condition. The other saucer is fair/good; the gilding on the rim has rubbed in several places, there is some enamel loss to the central painting, and some stacking wear.
Diameters: 17.5 cm and 17.7 cm
Weight: 448g
Medium: Bone china (porcelain)
Origin: Stoke-on-Trent, England
