![]() ![]() Spode has had quite the trajectory since its 18th-century start, and its china patterns tell that story through their back stamps. In 1970, the company was again renamed back to Spode. The company would then operate as Copeland and Garratt (a partner that came on) until 1847 when William Copeland decided to continue solo. When Spode II died in 1827, William's Copeland's son bought the entire business from the Trustees of Josiah Spode III. A man named William Copeland also partnered with Spode II in 1797, which colored the next chapter for the pottery company. This type of porcelain would become the Spode hallmark, as they worked to perfect the recipe for the unique china. In 1797, he took the reins from his father and led the company into the production of bone china. He trained as a potter as well and helped run the Spode warehouse in London. His son, Josiah Spode II, was born in 1755 and would enter the family business when he became of age. In the village of Stokes-on-Trent, a well-known pottery hub, Spode would hone his skills during his teenage years and open his own pottery business in 1767. One of these potters was Thomas Whieldon, one of the best in the area. ![]() Growing up in the early 18th century, Josiah Spode I worked for a number of potters in Staffordshire, England. Even so, pieces by Helena Wolfsohn that bear the fraudulent "AR" monogram are highly prized today, and the works of the Dresden studios have since seen their fair share of imitations in the last hundred years.Brand: Spode Country HQ: England Year Founded: 1767Ĭompany Status: Active Founded By: Josiah Spode Some 18th century Meissen pieces, for example, bear Oriental designs or features, and are even painted with fake Chinese or Japanese marks! The now-famous Dresden artists were, in their day, considered to be Meissen imitators and some decorators, such as Helena Wolfsohn or Carl Thieme, even faced lawsuits brought against them by the Meissen Royal Manufactory for their use of deceptively-similar marks. However, it is also important to remember that even the most prestigious porcelain manufacturers were, to some degree, considered imitators in their own day. In general, the more prized the product by a certain manufacturer, the more likely it is that the makers mark has been imitated at some time or another. These stamps are no indication of either the place of manufacture or decoration. This is also commonly seen with Haviland china, with certain pieces bearing stamps of domestic retailers such as Sanger Brothers in Dallas, TX or W.J. In certain cases large importers would special order china to be marked with the name of domestic retailers. (Click here for a complete explanation of Haviland marks.)Īnother common type of porcelain mark is the retailer or distributor's mark. Limoges." In this case, the china bears two marks even though the pieces were produced in different parts of the same factory. Much Haviland china, for example, bears the green underglaze mark "Haviland France," and the red decorators stamp: "Haviland & Co. Often times a piece of china will bear two marks in this way: one beneath the glaze, indicating the factory that produced the blank, and the second above the glaze indicating the decorator. ![]() The Dresden decorators covered these porcelain marks with a gold glaze, and then applied their own above-glaze mark: usually a blue crown. In most cases these blanks bore marks of the factories within which they were produced. These famous artists, including Carl Thieme, Helena Wolfsohn, Franziska Hirsch, and others, procured blanks from other factories and applied them with their own handpainting or sculpted embellishments. One important exception is the work of the Dresden porcelain studios, operating in the Saxon capital during the late nineteenth century. The latter was the more popular, so most European porcelain marks are cobalt blue underneath the glaze. For the first hundred years or so of porcelain production there were only two known pigments that could withstand the high firing temperature necessary: iron red and cobalt blue. Most porcelain marks on fine antique china, such as the Meissen marks, are "underglaze"-meaning, they were applied to the piece prior to firing. ![]()
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