Thursday, August 10, 2006

2 comments:

Victorian Lady said...

Your Blog is very interesting and informative.

Alas, I too have been born in the wrong century. Although my family considers me a pack rat,(how droll), I dearly love my Victorian rooms and "My Things About Me".

I found your sight as I was researching info. on PB&S. I almost didn't view it because anything with the "P" word I avoid like the plague. Art is one thing garbage is another...enough said on that matter.

I have a very large punch bowl in this pattern, which was my mothers, and I knew nothing about when I started.

Like you, I too, love my little bit of detective work to search out the history and meanings of pottery marks. In addition to my newer books, my favorite is a 1943 reference book called Porcelian & Pottery Marks by Urban Hartman. It references early marks from the 1500's to 1898.

As you know these books can be very dry. Mr. Hartman has not only identified hundrends of the early marks but gives some very interesting accounts of the history of porcelain and pottery making. Including the political
intrigue involved in the very early endeavors and how it proliferated world wide with each countries contribution to said proliferation. You may find it interesting and a good resource. It maybe reprinted by now.

To get back on the subject of this particular pattern. If you are interested I did find a cup in the Mikado pattern on EbayUK:
Item number: 270175531863 the seller: pippinski101.
I'm too far away and haven't had good luck with getting things shipped from overseas.

Now she states the pattern is Art Deco 1930's and I can see that from the design but the marks on my punch bowl, I think, are earlier.

I wish I could put a picture on here. Anyway mine has 4 very distinct marks. The first 3 are printed in black under the glaze. The 1st is a large mum
with 'Mikado' inside top and PB&S inside bottom. The 2nd the oriental man, sitting, facing left holding an open umbrella over himself. Inside the umbrella says oriental ivory, under the man PB&S. The third is the Wand of Caduceus with no marks on top or bottom but in the middle Trade on one side and Mark on the other. The 4th is an imbedded triangle with an o in the center. There is also a small black 8 stuck off by itself and the code # L 17L6 handwritten in black on it.

From my research the caduceus was registered in 1876 by Powell & Bishop and continues in 1878 when Stonier joined the group. In 1880 they added trademark of the oriental man to introduce their oriental ivory line. When Powell died in 1891 Bishop and Stonier created the trademark Bisto which was incorporated into the caduceus and was used until 1933.

If my timeline and info. is correct my piece was made after 1880 but before 1891.
Of course I haven't found anything out about the Mum. So this is all conjecture right now. If you have any further info. I'd love to see it.

Thanks again your site and your beautiful pictures really helped me out.

The Ticcy Knitter said...

hi, thanks for your message. how great to find someone who is also researching PB&S.

I actually bought the cup and saucer you mentioned from Ebay - like you, I thought, that's NOT a deco piece at all! It is most certainly a late 19th century piece of the Aesthetic movement. The mikado pattern is very similar to others used by PB&S in it's use of angular branches, leaves and flowers which are coloured with enamels, also the oriental "wheels". They had several designs like Miako and Conway which look similar.

As for your piece - would love to see a picture, if only to build my own knowledge bank. I'm afraid i have never come across the "MUM" mark that you mention so can't help you understand it any further. If it is hand painted it may be a painters intials?

thanks for being intouch.
Russell

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Sometimes, life doesn't turn out the way you expected. And sometimes, it is exactly as it was 'meant' to be. I believe that life is a both a learning experience and an obstacle course to be climbed and clambered over in the most creative way possible! In doing so, you'll get to where you should be even if it's not where you'd imagined.