Period: Regency
Maker: James & Ralph Clews
A delightful Regency porcelain tea plate by James and Ralph Clews, hand-painted with two country men conversing in a lane, and with an elaborately decorated border. The plate is unmarked except for the 841 pattern number painted on the base.
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 lived, 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, versions of which appears on 19th Century porcelains of many other British firms. Its basic elements, according to Michael Berthoud, are “a deeply scalloped blue border containing roughly rectangular yellow panels containing a gilt flower or anthemion.” The gilt inner edge of the border is also ‘melting.’
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.
It is interesting to compare the Clews pattern with the Hicks & Meigh cup and saucer that we also have on sale. The basic design is very similar but with a few subtle differences. For instance, instead of anthemions, the yellow rectangular panels of the Hicks & Meigh example contain gilt palm fronds.
Condition: Excellent. A tiny amount of enamel loss to the central painting (chiefly the elbow of the green jacket). Some light glaze abrasions. A few tiny spots of gilt rubbing on rim edge. Otherwise near mint.
Diameter: 21.6 cm
Weight: 387g
Medium: Bone china (porcelain)
Origin: Stoke-on-Trent, England
