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| Greyhound |
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| Backstamp on greyhound |
On my Spode ABC I have written about Royal Jade - a matt green glaze
produced for a short time in the 1930s. (Click here for my Spode ABC and look on the relevant pages for entries on Olsen and Royal Jade
for more information). There is no record of the actual pieces which
were made and evidence has to be gleaned from factory records in the Spode archive
which include old photographs, brochures and shape books.
Other evidence comes when pieces are found by collectors
who kindly share their finds. One such is a beautiful greyhound in Royal Jade which is illustrated here. It is small and fits in the palm of a hand. (More on
Spode and Dogs can be found here).
Royal Jade fascinates me partly because it was made for only a few years (from about
1932 to about 1939) so not many items were made in comparison to other Spode products.
But also because it didn't seem to know where to fit. The idea of the green glaze
seems to have come from late 18th century pieces when green glazes had been in vogue
but the matt finish was a more modern idea.
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| Green glazed, Beaker matchpot, c1800 |
The designs in Royal Jade seem an odd mix of traditional and modern.
For the development of new designs archive material such as pattern books, antique
objects, copper plates or moulds could be used to drive and influence the new products.
For Royal Jade old moulds were brought back into use and items such as the
two styles of greyhounds, which had previously been produced around the late 19th
century and painted in natural colours, were issued in the new finish. Designs for
a Toby Jug from the mid-19th century and a basket from the early 19th century rubbed
shoulders with Art Deco ornamental pieces and a lot of ashtrays - which says something of the acceptance and fashion of cigarette smoking at the time.
Thank you to the private collector who owns the greyhound who also shared
with me another piece of Royal Jade as a sort of 'mystery object' and the
first image I saw showed it upside down. But once turned the right way up I felt
it was a lamp base complete with notch for the flex. I have never seen the design
nor researched it fully but it is a great example of Spode's Art Deco designs. What
sort of lampshade was provided I don't yet know. I thought perhaps a simple glass
globe but the owner suggested a glass lighthouse. This latter seems logical. They
are known at this period and the base of the lamp resembles a rocky pediment with
stylised waves below.
The Spode factory produced lighting from the late 1700s to 2009 - a subject
which is sometimes neglected but interests me. I shall perhaps one day research it if only to reveal
to the public what now seem hilariously designed lampshades produced for new-fangled electric
lamp bases in the late 19th century.
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| Lamp Base |
Incidentally Spode's matt glazes never gained popularity in the US market
where a shiny glaze was preferred. The ivory coloured Velamour was matt in the UK but similar decorative
pieces in the range were made with a shiny glaze and marketed as Imperial Fancies
for the US. See my Spode ABC for more on Velamour under V.