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| Barrel Scent Jar in Cracked Ice and Prunus pattern c1821 |
Spode's early 19th century pattern Cracked Ice and Prunus was derived from an
18th century Chinese porcelain design. The design represents the coming of spring. The
elements of the design show cherry blossom petals (prunus) falling on to the
background of thawing ice.
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| To the left of the Barrel Scent Jar is a covered dish in Chinese porcelain |
The earliest record of the design in the
Spode pattern books, in the Spode archive, is pattern number 3667 first
recorded in about 1821. The pattern was printed in underglaze blue in an all-over
design known as a sheet pattern. It is known on plain shapes and on moulded
edge pieces such as Gadroon shape.
Early examples can be found in earthenware but the design was also used on
stone china which Spode II developed to match Chinese export porcelain.
Dinner and some teawares were produced; decorative and unusual shapes are
rarely seen at this period in the early 1800s.
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| Specially commissioned service printed & hand coloured border, central coat
of arms for Smallpeace of Whitby, c1830s |
The design was popular during the Spode period
up to 1833 and was produced later by Copeland & Garrett (the name of the
company from 1833-1847). In the early 1900s the pattern was revived as
rim decoration with plain centres, for example on Camilla
shape with pattern number 2/6663. It was also combined with various other patterns
which were used as the centre design such as Peacock,
Trophies, Chinese Figures and Vienna Bird.
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| Tableware from 1938 earthenware catalogue |
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| Trophies Marble on Gadroon shape, pattern B111 c 1826 |
The pattern was produced on both bone china and
earthenware in the 20th century. There were various other versions with the
'cracks' gilded or the prunus painted. A toilet ware set was produced on the
elegant Queen Anne shape. In one form or another it was in almost continuous
production through to the 1930s.
The names
Marble
and
Mosaic have also been used for
the design and are thought to refer to the use of the background of
Cracked Ice without the prunus blossom. A version of
Tumbledown Dick pattern
uses
Marble or
Mosaic as the background to the bird and foliage design and a
variant of
Willis pattern has it as
the rim border decoration.
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| Tumbledown Dick pattern on Marble sheet c1823 (detail) |
