I thought it would be fun to look at more
marketing/sales material from the Spode company.
So I've chosen, at random, a catalogue of patterns and shapes dated 1882. It was produced during the
W. T. Copeland & Sons ownership of the Spode factory in Stoke.
The front cover shows the company has the
Royal Warrant. It also shows, in brackets, 'Late Spode & Copeland'. The word 'late' in this context means formerly. The
Spode brand had become internationally famous by the late 1700s so it was good business sense for the company to continue to use the name even when owned outright by the Copeland family.
 |
| Title page |
I love the style of the title page with all its different typefaces. More importantly it shows the range of
wares that was being produced by the factory at this date; and exactly what type of products it was important to advertise. I particularly like 'Useful and Ornamental Wares in Every Variety'. You can't really go wrong with that!
The pages in the catalogue are not really representative of the excitement of this title page. These types of covers and title pages were used in common for different catalogues, which were then assembled from loose sheets. It was possible therefore to make up a catalogue suitable to a particular type of customer, for example a specialist retailer at home or abroad. This one, for example, does not contain pages of
tiles or
parian ware.
Here are some of the inside pages:
 |
| Printed tableware |
Tableware is mostly illustrated by a 10 inch plate which indicates the shape to be used in conjunction with a particular pattern. For tea and coffee wares a teacup or coffee cup is used.
Design influences include
Aesop's Fables, the Aesthetic Movement, Oriental and Middle Eastern influences, botanical and floral subjects, ruins, rural scenes and more. Most of the patterns are very much in keeping with the date of the catalogue; only a few continued to be produced into the 20th century.
 |
| Printed tableware |
The
transfer printed patterns shown in the catalogue were available in a range of colours: black, browns, blues, pink, green etc. These colours are detailed on the catalogue pages showing that the pattern was often not just made in the colour illustrated. Note also the particular descriptions the colours have, for example the blues, to cover the various shades used.
 |
| Printed tableware |
 |
| Printed tableware |
 |
| Printed tableware |
 |
| Printed dessert ware patterns & shapes |
On the dessert ware page, above, it is really useful to get full information - the shape name, the pattern name and the colour. Note that the 'grey' pattern at the bottom has faded and should be blue. It is described as Saxon Blue.
Again on the image above, if you saw the oblong tray (middle) today, would you think to describe it as an 'Ice Cream Tray'? Many objects have lost their true description as fashions and eating habits change. The catalogues are a really useful source to understand food history and dining habits. A useful website for this subject is the
Leeds Food Symposium.
 |
| Printed & hand coloured tableware |
Many patterns offered in this catalogue are 'plain printed' i.e. transfer printed in one colour. Others are printed and hand coloured and sometimes have gilding added too.
 |
| Printed & hand coloured tableware |
 |
| Printed toiletware |
Toiletware is mostly illustrated by a ewer and basin combination which indicates the shape to be used in conjunction with a particular pattern.
In the above image, the 'brush vase' illustrated to the left of the central ewer and basin is for toothbrushes and has a stand. The vase seen in isolation today is often regarded as a mystery. It has holes in the bottom! Divorced from its context, as well as its stand, a vase with holes in the bottom rarely makes sense...
Brush vases also came without holes in the bottom so looked like a normal small vase. They often suffered the evils of dirty water and remnants of dribble remaining in the base from the draining toothbrush. Unpleasant!
 |
| Printed toiletware |
If you did not want a 'brush vase' then you could choose a toothbrush box or, as it is described in the image above, a 'brush tray'. These came with or without lids and often had ridges moulded into the base so your toothbrush was not sitting in stale water from its drips. However neither version would be very hygienic. The brushes would be made of natural materials at this time and sitting wet for a while would invite bacteria.
 |
| Printed toiletware... and candlesticks |
The toiletware page above also includes candlesticks. Both are 'Stoke' shape - one is a pillar candlestick and the other, on the right, a flat candlestick and extinguisher. Note the correct use of the word 'extinguisher' not snuffer. The extinguisher is a beautiful little conical shaped bit of pottery which sits loose over a stump fixed to the tray. Most of these candlesticks and matching extinguishers have now become separated and, as antiques, are found individually.
 |
| Printed & hand coloured toilet & tableware, Primrose pattern |
The manufacture of toiletware was very important for the pottery industry and made in vast quantities. Around the 1920s production gradually began to decline as houses improved and Public Health Acts led to the inclusion of a bathroom in new properties. Much toiletware was destroyed. In the 1970s a revival of interest in antique pieces of toiletware for ornamental use took place. Chamber pots and ewers were particularly popular often used to hold a plant or flower arrangement. Reproductions were also made at this time.
 |
| 'Useful and Ornamental Wares in Every Variety' |
The catalogue page above has a lot going on: Toiletware, Fruit Baskets, Umbrella Stands, Can and Stand (for coffee), Cup and Saucer (for tea) and, yes, that is a bone china Revolving Tray with accompanying Tea Set which is described as Tottenham [shape].
 |
| China Tottenham Set Revolving Tray |
The umbrellas stands are gorgeous. That on the left is earthenware with a Classical Greek influenced pattern; the one on the right is
bone china with an elaborate
Imari pattern and gilding. See details below about 1 over and 2 over pattern numbers.
 |
| Umbrella Stand, Imari style |
Below is a rather poor photocopy of a price list for this catalogue. However, I thought it was worth showing.
Prices were rarely included in the illustrated catalogue but provided as a separate, pamphlet or loose sheets. Prices could change whereas the pots didn't.
 |
| Price List of Goods |
It is not clear exactly what sort of price list this but I believe it is most likely produced for the retailer as the word 'scale' is used in association with the column of prices. This scale price would not be understood by an individual customer i.e. the end user otherwise known as you and me. But for the retailer this is the key to pricing.
 |
| Example of a generic list of scale prices date unknown |
For the retailers a separate book of scales was supplied to work it all out (sometimes published industry wide). Using the scale price list enabled the prices of all the different pieces to be calculated. For example, with a scale price for a 10 inch plate in a particular
body, shape and pattern the price of a teapot in the same body, shape and pattern could be looked up. Complicated! I still haven't grasped it completely.
 |
| 'Table Ware & Toilet Ware' |
 |
| 'Toilet Ware, Dessert Ware & Enamelled Goods' |
 |
| 'Enamelled Ware' |
'Enamelled Goods/Ware' refers to the patterns which were printed and hand coloured. The word enamelled does not appear in the Spode archive papers or in the terminology that was used on the factory very often but was used industry wide.
In both the catalogue and price list
pattern numbers are sometimes included. Some have a 1 above the number denoting bone china; those with a 2 above the number denotes earthenware. These are known as the '1 over' numbers and the '2 over' numbers. There are also some O pattern numbers denoting a range of Ornamental patterns and some D numbers which predate the 1 and 2 over numbers. Spode pattern numbers and their dates of introduction are detailed in
'Spode & Copeland Marks & Other Relevant Intelligence'.
