Posts Tagged ‘soft paste’

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Miniature pearlware ladle, c.1840

Saturday, August 25th, 2012

English miniature soft paste pottery pearlware ladle from set of child’s dishes, measuring 3-3/4″ long and dating from the early to middle 1800s. The two broken halves are bound together by a criss cross of thin brass wire woven through 2 tiny holes on either side of the break. Small dabs of cement in each hole help secure the repair.

I pity the small child who briefly lost the use of their ladle during what might have been a fantasy feast. And I applaud the person who came to the rescue, making the two broken pieces whole again, thus allowing the imaginary dinner party to continue!

 

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Child’s pearlware teapot, c.1790

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Miniature pearlware pottery child’s teapot made in England in the late 1700′s. With cobalt blue underglazed ”Chinese House” decoration, derived from English Chinoiserie pieces rather than actual Chinese ornamentation.

I am surprised I have not come across more examples of miniatures and children’s items with inventive repairs, as I would imagine that slippery little fingers would surely have caused many a fragile toy to break. I just hope the children who damaged these items were not punished too severely.

Teapot measures 2-1/2″ high and was most likely made in Staffordshire between the years 1780 and 1800.

The simple loop handle which broke off over one hundred years ago, was replaced with a sturdy tin replacement with crimped edges and an upper support band by an itinerant tinsmith. The top portion of the original handle was not ground down and still remains.

Provenance sticker: Roger Bacon Collection, Skinner auction Sept. 23-24, 1982.

This similarly shaped and decorated child’s teapot of the same size still has its original handle and an intact lid.

Photo courtesy of De Porcelijne Lampetkan

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Floral pearlware cream jug, c.1800

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Lightweight, soft paste pottery cream jug with fluted body, made in England, possibly by Lowestoft. Boldly decorated with hand painted pink flowers and diaper decoration on the inner rim.

Jug was made at the turn of the 19th century and measures 2-1/2″ tall by 4-1/2″ long.

Metal handle with thumb rest and finger grip replaces the original handle and was most likely made by an itinerant tinsmith.

One of 2 rivets which holds the tin handle firmly in place can be seen on the inside of the jug.

This nearly identical cream jug still has its original loop handle.

Photo courtesy of eBay

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“Beehive” pattern waste bowl, c.1820

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

This English-made soft paste pottery waste bowl was originally part of a larger tea set. Waste bowls, aka slop bowls, were used for pouring out the remaining cold tea before pouring another cup of tea. It has a cobalt blue & white transfer decoration of a bee skep in a bucolic pastoral setting

The many cracks on the sides have been stabilized by the careful addition of small ridged metal staples, which appear to be machine made

A single bent metal staple affixed to the underside acts as a crutch and ingeniously supports the broken base

Bowl measures 2-1/2″ high with a dimeter of 4-1/8″

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“John Bull” Staffordshire jug, c.1812

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

A rare soft paste pottery jug with transfer decoration and overglaze polychrome washes featuring a Napoleonic  political cartoon. Made in Staffordshire, England and marked “T. Harley – Lane End”.

Thomas Harley (1778-1832) produced earthenware jugs and other wares in his Lane End (now Longton) studio from 1805-1812. In 1814 he was involved in a meeting which called for the abolition of the slave trade.

Jug measures 7-1/2″ high and is featured in AN ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BRITISH POTTERY AND PORCELAIN by Geoffrey A. Godden, Bonanza Books Inc., N.Y., 1966.

A now rusted metal handle with thumb rest, made by a metalsmith over 100 years ago, replaces the original damaged ceramic handle.

This rare example with intact handle shows what my jug looked like before a clumsy person dropped it.

 

Photo courtesy of Commemorative Ceramics

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Child’s waste bowl, c.1830

Monday, July 19th, 2010

A child’s waste bowl with brown printed transfer decoration on soft paste pearlware pottery, made in England in the early 1800′s. This small waste bowl was part of a child’s tea set which would have included a teapot, cream jug, sugar jar, plates, cups & saucers. The waste bowl (aka slop bowl) was used for emptying unwanted cold tea before refilling a cup with hot tea

One side of the bowl has a printed design depicting a girl and boy chasing a butterfly…

…the other side shows the same girl and boy after the successful capture of the butterfly

After the bowl was dropped and broke in to four pieces, it was taken to a tinsmith who created an elaborate metal truss to keep it intact. A puddle of light blue glaze seen on the inner rim confirms this to be a piece of pearlware pottery. Bowl measures 2-1/2″ high and has a diameter of 5″

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“Thee Creswell” hand painted jug, c.1818

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Wonderfully painted soft paste yellow ware pottery jug made in Leiestershire, located in central England

The hand painted pastoral scene in black seems to have been inspired by an 18th century engraving

Hand lettered and dated: “Thee Creswell, Ibstock 1818″

Jug stands 6-1/2″ tall

A graceful tin handle with thumb grip and curled flourishes replaces the original pottery handle, which must have broken off at least 100 years ago

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Copper lustre jug, c.1820

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

English soft paste pearlware jug with copper lustre bands, pink lustre trim and applied low relief classical decoration of frolicking cherubs and animals. It was most likely made by Wedgwood around 1820.

A metal bolt, visible just below the pink lustre band inside of the jug, holds the replaced handle securely in place

Jug stand 3-3/4″ tall and is 5-1/2″ wide

A metal handle was bolted on to the body of the jug to replace the original handle after it broke off. Curiously, the metal replacement was gilded to match the copper color of the jug and not white to more closely resemble the original handle color

This jug, with the same form and similar decoration, shows what the original handle of my repaired jug would have looked like

Photo courtesy of Aurea Carter Antiques

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English “Chinese House” mug, c.1790

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

This large soft paste pearlware ale mug was most likely made in Staffordshire, England in the late 1700s. Standing 6-1/2″ tall, the mug is decorated in cobalt blue underglaze with the ”Chinese House” pattern, a popular middle class replacement for similarly decorated Chinese porcelain, affordable only to the wealthy. I am quite fond of this loose, stylized decoration; a melding of Eastern and Western influences. The sturdy 19th century replacement handle, with thumb rest and support straps, is made of Britannia metal, aka Britannium, a composite made up of 93% tin, 5% antimony and 2% copper. A traveling tinker made repairs such as this for the townspeople who saved their cherished broken wares in need of his services. Members of the upper class would have taken their damaged goods directly to a silversmith, resulting in a more refined sterling silver replacement.

This is what the simple loop handle must have looked like before it broke off, as seen on this similarly shaped mug of the same period.

photo courtesy of Earle D. Vandekar

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Silver resist lustre jug, c.1820

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

This soft paste pottery jug is decorated in a stylized grape leaf pattern using a silver resist method of decoration. This type of decoration is achieved by painting the design with a resist substance such as thinned honey, applying the silver glaze over the entire jug, washing off the resist to reveal the unglazed decoration and firing to set the silver lustre background

Silver lustre, or “poor man’s silver” was first introduced in the 18th century by John Hancock for Spode. It remained popular throughout the 19th century, until the invention of electro plating brought silver plated items in to the masses in 1838. This jug measures 4-3/4″ tall

Tin was used to fashion a replacement handle and strap, most likely by an itinerant tinsmith or china mender

Another silver resist lustre jug shown with its original handle with the same silhouette as the replacement

Photo courtesy of John Howard

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