Period: Regency
Maker: Josiah Spode
This Spode ‘Devonia’ dish was made only a few years after the famous ‘Italian’ pattern was introduced. The Italian pattern – a.k.a. ‘Blue Italian’ – is Spode’s most popular blue-printed design and was in continuous production from about 1816 until the factory’s closure in 2009. We date this dish to around 1822.
What makes it rare is not only the early date but that part of the pattern is repeated on the outer curved sides of the cavetto. This attractive feature is missing from later Devonia dishes in the Italian pattern.
The source of the Italian pattern has never been conclusively established. In his book on Spode, Leonard Whiter suggests a famous series of Rome etchings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778). Incongruously, the border of Spode’s Italian pattern is in the Imari style. Why Spode called the shape Devonia is unknown. (Devonia is Mediaeval Latin for Devon in southwest England.)
We can tell this Devonia dish was made around 1822 thanks to the combination of the ‘B’ in underglaze blue and the impressed ‘Spode.’
Condition Mint. On one side of the dish there is a small glaze impurity from manufacture. Otherwise unblemished.
Maximum width: 23 cm; height: 3.1 cm
Weight: 352 g
Origin: Stoke-on-Trent, England
Medium: Earthenware
See Spode and Copeland in Makers & Artists for background on the factory.
