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| Plate, Fruit and Flowers pattern c1826 |
So why am I blogging about and showing an image of a pattern called
Fruit and Flowers when the title of this post is
Spode and May?
Read on...
Fruit and Flowers pattern has its first record in a
pattern book in the
B Book where it is recorded as pattern number B139. This is thought to date from c1826. It is possible B139 had extra colour added to the print but the record is not clear. It is likely that the introduction of a plain print i.e. no added colour was around this date too. This is what is seen in the picture of a plate, above, where it is printed underglaze in blue.
If you look at the design you tend to focus on the centre featuring the vase but the fruit and flowers are in the border design.
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| Border detail |
The pattern remained popular throughout the 19th century. The name change came at the end of the 1800s. On 14th December 1892 the original
Fruit and Flowers pattern was registered with the British Patent Office under the name of
May. It had the registered number 204192. Some registration number records are now online on the
National Archives website.
The pattern was also produced in the first half of the 20th century. It was later reintroduced as part of Spode's
Blue Room Collection in the late 1990s as one of the
Regency Dresser Plates as well as on an oval teapot in 1998. Many of Spode's old blue printed patterns and some of the old shapes from the early 1800s enjoyed a revival in the 1990s.
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| Backstamp, dated 2000 |
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| Oval teapot, May pattern 1998 |
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| Blue Room booklet, front 1990s |
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| Blue Room booklet, back 1990s |
The booklet about the Blue Room Collection was rather beautifully produced and the range was strongly marketed... although not everything included in the text was historically correct!
N.B. The name of this pattern can be confusing! The
Fruit and Flowers name was also re-used to describe other patterns which were entirely different in design.
