Period: Regency
Maker: Josiah Spode
This striking Spode tea & coffee trio has trompe l’oeil effect gold decoration on a most unusual blue ground. The formal gilt pattern, number 2145, is typically Neo-Classical; symmetrical acanthus and laurel leaves and swags, with architectural-style pediments topped by palmettes. Shadow edging imparts a three-dimensional illusion. The blue ground colour is one we have not encountered before.
The trio is also curious for the shape of the teacup and its handle. They broadly conform to Spode’s rarely encountered ‘Porringer’ shape but with subtle differences that received detailed explanation in the Spode Society’s Review. The coffee can has the standard ‘kick’ handle associated with Spode’s Bute shape. Porringer-type teacups were combined with Bute-shape coffee cans in a 42-piece Spode part tea service from which the trio originated.
The three pieces are unmarked. Spode introduced its 2145 pattern in 1814.
Condition The teacup and coffee can are almost perfect. The saucer has several patches of rubbed gilding to the outer band around the well.
Saucer Diameter: 13.9 cm Teacup Height: 5.4 cm; Diameter: 8.2 cm; Width across handle: 10.3 cm Coffee can Height: 6.3 cm; Diameter: 6.5 cm; Width across handle: 8.4 cm
Net weight: 304 g
Medium: Bone china (porcelain)
Origin: Stoke-on-Trent, England
See Spode and Copeland in Makers & Artists for background on the factory.
