Rare Spode Armorial Coffee Can and Saucer Museum Quality C 1820

We are excited to offer this wonderfully rare Spode coffee can and saucer. The coffee can and saucer was produced by Spode during the early 19th century, circa 1820. We are experienced retailers of late 18th and early 19th century porcelain and this is one of the most unusual and interesting pieces we have seen.

To assist us with identification we spoke to a Trustee at The Spode Museum Trust, the trustee also runs the identification service at the Museum. Her report concluded that the cup is of ‘Royal Flute’ shape, the shape and handle being influenced by the French. The unusual body is not a typical Spode body; the body itself was produced by Spode to emulate French hard paste porcelain. The pattern is rare and is unrecorded by Spode.

The Spode museum is of the opinion that this is a 'Spode matching' cup and saucer, circa 1820. Whereby Spode would ‘match’ services produced by other manufactories, British and continental, when replacement or additional pieces were required. Further, they would also copy as closely as possible the ceramic body of the original. It is astonishing that an established manufacture would go to such lengths, in particular creating a whole new porcelain body and mixture to suit its customer’s needs. This is an important item that would be at home in a museum or in the cabinet of a porcelain collector. This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity to own such an important piece by Spode.

Our description of the cup and saucer are as follows:
The cup and saucer are matching, both pieces feature the early hand painted iron red ‘Spode’ mark with a tiny painters mark reading ‘1’. The cup features the Spode handle, and both pieces are decorated in the finest hand painted pattern.

The pattern features tiny hand purple and gold painted wreaths; the attention to detail is astonishing. The centerpiece features a hand painted swirling green and gold ribbon which culminates in a delicate, ornate bow. At its center we find a further hand painted gold oval shaped border with the tiniest hand painted roses hanging from the top. This style of decoration is only found on the finest armorial porcelain one off service which was produced for some of the wealthiest families of the time. However, on this pair we find no monogram or family crest.

The inner border features hand painted roses, above this we find a raised green border with fine gilt detailing. The final section of the border features a complex, hand painted pattern upon a pink ground, it has all been painted absolutely perfectly.

The most unusual feature of the cup and saucer is by far the body; this is unlike any Spode body we have seen. It is bluey in color, hard and almost glass like. The base of the cup also has extremely poor translucency when presented to a bright light. A bright LED torch will only show when within a centimeter of the surface of the base, quite different from any of our other pieces from this period. The sides of both pieces are much more in line with any other piece of porcelain of this age. The slightly scalloped top rim is also very unusual for Spode; we have not seen this before.

Measuring: Cup width including handle 3 3/8 inch (8.5 cm). Cup height 2 5/8 inch (6.5 cm). Saucer diameter 5 3/8 inch (13.5 cm).

Condition: A stable ‘y’ shaped 1 inch hairline to the right side of the egg cartouche on the coffee can (clearly seen in our image). Very light surface wear to the rim.

ITEM ID:12976