Period: Regency
Maker: Josiah Spode
The Spode printed design on this Bute-shape teacup, coffee can and saucer from around 1806 is called ‘Rose Border.’
The print was transferred onto the surface of the glaze by a complex method called ‘pluck & dust’ Spode used in the early 1800s. The procedure is explained in detail in ‘Printed British Pottery & Porcelain’, an online exhibition.
Pluck & dust was similar to bat printing except that the copper plate was heated, and paper was used instead of a gelatine ‘bat’ to transfer the image. The heated plate was rubbed with heavy, sticky oil, then carefully rubbed to remove all the oil apart from that inside the engraved or etched lines. The printer then placed a dampened sheet of tissue paper on the plate and passed both of them through a press. This transferred the sticky oil to the paper, which was then carefully peeled off. ‘The paper was then pressed on to the pot, transferring the design in oil onto it. The paper was carefully peeled off. Powdered pigment was then lightly dusted onto the pot. The pigment stuck only to the parts of the pot that were oiled.’ The ceramic had already been dipped in glaze and fired at a temperature of at least 1,000 degrees Celsius. It was then fired again, but at a lower temperature of about 750 Celsius, to fix the print to the body.
On the Spode teacup and coffee can, one can see where the print has gone over the top inner part of the handle. On the saucer, there is also a small gap where the print should have joined.
SPODE and the pattern number, 984, are painted on the base of the teacup. The bottom of the saucer has only 984.
Condition Good. Minor wear. The gilding is rubbed and scratched in a few places, see photographs.
Teacup height: 5.5 cm; diameter: 8 cm; width, with handle: 10 cm
Coffee can height 6.4 cm; diameter: 6.7 cm; width, with handle: 8.5 cm
Saucer diameter: 14 cm
Net weight: 302 g
Medium: Bone china (porcelain)
Origin: Stoke-on-Trent, England
For background on the Spode factory, see Spode and Copeland in Makers & Artists
