Tureens act as both a key functional and aesthetic centre piece to a
dinner service. They vary tremendously in shape, volume, decoration and the type of clay used to make them.
Ironstone is heavy and durable, perfect for utilitarian/domestic wares which had a lot of use.
Earthenware is not so durable and is more porous - particularly if left unglazed. The pieces in a collection that are stained from use with liquids, are invariably earthenware bodies which have been effected by the contents stored in them. For this reason, the best tureens are ironstone or bone china - although bone china doesn't always stand up to the rigours of big ladles and lots of hot heavy veg so is more prone to chips and cracks.
an Art Deco period BISTO example.
a simple and elegant example with a gilded greek key border motif and foliate finial.
a blue and white pattern called Saxony
the classic Willow pattern is still very popular with collectors
french style chinoisirie
Edwardian tastes favoured small sprigs of flowers around the border and more muted colours than the Victorians before them. To today's tastes, it can appear a bit boring and bland and may be found in a many a grandma's kitchen cupboard.
where form and surface decoration just don't match - the combination of geometric patterns and more fluid nouveau body shapes is really unsatisfactory here.
if you can find a tureen with its original ladle in an undamaged state, then you're VERY lucky. Even better is if you find the stand/dish to go with it too!
honfleur pattern
very simple - perhaps even meant for use in a hotel or on board a cruise liner?
ironstone examples, including a tealeaf pattern design - very widely collected in the USA
sunflower design
a very rare shape of a tureen on a pedestal base - presumably so that it was more easily accessible on a crowded dinner table.
khan pattern in flow blue - this example shows how the tureen shaped blends into other familiar forms, for example the casserole dish.
Lloyd Cameron and Partners Antiques Auction Sat 25 July Lot 66 - White Star Line / Titanic - a print depicting the SS Titanic signed personally by Millvina Dean who was the last survivor of the Titanic disaster and, at just nine weeks old, was the youngest individual to come through the sinking alive, and a blue and white dish with White Star Line logo, the backstamp Stonier & Co Lt, Liverpool, Bisto England with impressed marks
The lot is only estimated at £60-80 which seems like a real "come and buy me" estimate; i blogged a while ago about a Bisto White Star line dish that sold for around £300 on ebay, so to my mind there's plenty of room to push the upper limit of this estimate.
