VIII

SPODE AND HIS SUCCESSORS

The chain of potters is complete from the day on which Josiah Spode was apprenticed to Whieldon in 1749. The entry in the old account book runs: “1749, April 9th. Hired Siah Spode, to give him from this time to Martelmas next 2s. 3d., or 2s. 6d. if he deserves it, 2nd year 2s. 9d., 3rd year 3s. 3d.” The successors to Spode, Messrs. Copeland, have done much to develop the manufacture of English porcelain in the nineteenth century, and at the present day they are producing china of the highest excellence.

The first Josiah Spode established a factory at Stoke-upon-Trent about 1770. Some of his earliest productions bear the name “Spode” impressed in the paste. Those of my readers who have blue willow-pattern plates with this mark upon them are the possessors of some of the first plates of that pattern made. About 1780 the willow pattern was introduced by Turner at Caughley, and very shortly afterwards, in 1784, Josiah Spode was turning out at Stoke his blue printed plates. Some of his china is printed in black, and pieces of this black printing are much sought after by collectors, but they must bear the word “Spode” impressed on them.

The vase which we reproduce from the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum is a pastille-burner having perforated cover; it is mounted on tripod stand formed by three dolphins on triangular base; it is red in colour and ornamented in black in relief. It has the impressed mark “Spode,” and is earthenware, but we give it here on account of its fine form.

On the death of old Josiah Spode, in 1798, his son Josiah continued the business, and commenced the manufacture of porcelain, which he improved by the addition of bone-ash and of felspar. He died in 1827, and was succeeded by his cousin, Josiah Spode. This third Josiah Spode died a few years afterwards, at which date the name Spode practically disappears from the firm.

Josiah Spode the second was the most successful potter of his day. It is pleasing to be able to record that he acquired a considerable fortune—a lot not often within the reach of potters, successful or otherwise.

About the year 1805 he introduced a fine ware which he termed opaque porcelain. This ware became very popular and was of excellent manufacture. While Nelson was fighting the French at Trafalgar, and breaking their naval pretensions, Josiah Spode was inflicting a commercial blow upon that unhappy country. Spode—and in his wake came other Staffordshire manufacturers—inundated France and other countries on the Continent with this new stone china of his, which entirely superseded their fayence. This injury was a very real one to the poor potters of France, inasmuch as a great number of them had to abandon the manufacture.

We have already alluded to the impressed mark Spode or SPODE. On some of the finer pieces the name is painted in red, and sometimes it is written in gold, as in our third mark in an angular hand, running upwards. The stamped mark usually in red, “Spode’s New Fayence” and “Spode Stone China,” appears on the ironstone ware. Oftentimes the mark is not stamped on the middle of the plate underneath, but at the side, while sometimes the name is both stamped and impressed. Besides the marks we give there are more than half a dozen other forms used by the factory, but all of them containing the word “Spode,” and therefore not presenting difficulties to the collector.

Of three marked Spode plates in possession of the writer, of typical Spode decoration, which was largely influenced by Japanese art, we give two as a headpiece. It will be observed that the left-hand plate in the headpiece, which has a vivid blue background, is fretted with a geometric pattern as a design. This is intended to represent ice, and the may-flowers of the covering decoration are intended to convey, by the Chinese artist who invented it, the symbolic meaning of young love being chilled by adversity. The other plate in the same illustration is of a brilliant canary-coloured ground, covered with a gossamer-like network of cobwebs, above which bird and flowers are painted.

The third plate shows very strongly the influence of the East in its method of decoration; but instead of pagoda and delicate curves, the English artist has almost brutally placed a piece of European architecture on the other half of the plate, which by its incongruity mars the remainder.

We must turn aside from Spode, and introduce our readers to his successors, the Copelands. One word in passing. Those who have specimens of Spode ware will do well to remember that his was a great factory, not so well known as Derby and Worcester, but a formidable rival of theirs. Not many months ago at Christie’s a pair of Spode vases, square shaped, decorated with landscapes, birds and flowers in the Chinese style, forty-two inches, brought £21.

The list of marks used by Messrs. Copeland will show at a glance the changes in the title of the firm. In 1833 the firm became Copeland, late Spode, and the china was marked accordingly.

There are a good many other marks besides those we give, but all are more or less similar, with slight variation to those we produce. A word of explanation is necessary as to the mark “C. and G.” This is frequently accompanied by the words, “New Blanche,” “Royal Opal,” “Saxon Blue,” or “New Japan Stone,” according to the composition or decoration of the ware.

About the date of the International Exhibition of 1861, many purely English novelties were attempted. Mistletoe, holly, and simple popular designs were then in favour and were produced. Nobody could possibly mistake the homely robin or the holly-wreath decoration for that of any other country than ours. There is a suggestion of roast beef and plum-pudding and Christmas fare. All purely English art is homely, whether it be the Staffordshire potter’s farmyard quadrupeds that adorn the cottage mantelshelf, or the old blue dinner services of our great grandmothers. It is a debatable point if that is the highest art, but there it is. Ruskin would have had some hard things to say about it, and maybe William Morris preferred the potsherd of an Italian shepherd. The fact remains that it is our art, and whatever we may in our innermost hearts wish it to be, we have to take it and study it as we find it.

Before leaving the subject of these later and more modern chinas we may say, in passing, that the firm of Messrs. Copeland have done more than any other existing firm to maintain the traditions of a great factory. They have adhered to early designs, and all through the nineteenth century their record has been an exceedingly high one. It was Messrs. Copeland who first introduced, in 1845, their Parian ware, a very near approach to true porcelain. The writer has seen a Copeland and Garrett plate which in appearance was fully equal to Derby at its best period.

Characteristics of Spode China.

Spode ware is well potted, and feels to the touch like turned ivory. It can readily be distinguished from any of the glassy porcelains. It is light in weight. In design it follows Japanese more than Chinese models. The glaze is very even and smooth.

SALE PRICES.