Hi friends! Have you ever tried to establish a manufacturing date for a piece of Copeland Spode china? I'm learning that it's a somewhat difficult task because not all of the pieces were marked, especially in the early years, which was around the 1700s. Granted I will probably never come across any Copeland Spode from that time period, but I did recently find this gorgeous Chinese Rose earthenware dinner plate with a 1931 back stamp.
Spode's Chinese Rose, with its quintessential Chinoiserie style, was an immensely popular china ware pattern with millions of pieces manufactured between 1911 and 2007. Its predecessor was a pattern called India - a blue and white ware 'Oriental' style pattern, designed in 1815. The inspiration for the India pattern came from Chinese porcelains produced during the K'ang Hsi period in China from 1700-1722.
Immediately upon seeing this one lonely antique plate, I knew that it was manufactured during the very Chinoiserie revival time period that I have become so very fond of.
From the delicate quality of the hand colored florals, to the highly detailed motif of the transferred pattern, there is a perfection of the Chinoiserie stylized design ideals that are faithfully captured in this example that I feel are equally true to the spirit of both the eastern and western traditions.
My favorite aspect of this plate is the center floral arrangement. Not only does it perfectly capture the essence of the Chinoiserie revival style in its theme, but each flower expresses its own dynamic energy and vitality as they actively engage with each other in their environment, and together they appear to be happily participating within this unique atmosphere.
As mentioned, the back stamp indicates, I believe, a 1931 manufacture date. The Chinese Rose pattern for bone china was registered with the British Patent Office on December 13, 1913 with number 629599 and manufactured in 1931 in earthenware, with pattern number 2/9253. Both of these manufacture numbers appear on the back of my plate and I know for sure that it is made from earthenware, so my best guess is 1931.
Later pieces of Chinese Rose (from about the 1970s on) had an updated newer back stamp and do not have the red hand painted numbers.
Thank you for letting me share one of my newest vintage finds. If you would like to see more Copeland Spode Chinese Rose, I made a Pinterest board which you can view here.