Antique Spode Copeland Spode’s Tower Plates in Blue outlet with Gadroon Rim from the 19th Century Set of 3 RARE Flow Blue English Pottery, PC089

3 Antique Copeland England Spode's Tower Plates in rich blue. Approximately 9.5” in diameter each. Beautiful old dark blue Spode's Tower plates. Each has an old oval stamp with Copeland Spode's Tower England. Each also have imprinted oval marks, but these are not legible. All three plates also have date imprints which concisely dates each plate.

Plate 1: date imprint “A” over 0 which dates it to April of 1900. This plate is in in very good condition with signs of age on the back and a beautiful saturated transfer on the front. Abrasion (roughness) to the glaze is evident on the edges. All-over even crazing is evident and stable. No cracks or chips. The face shows no evidence of utensil marks and is completely smooth.

Plate 2: date imprint “O” over 94 which dates it to October 1894. This plate is in very good condition with signs of age on the back and a beautiful medium saturated blue transfer on the front. This transfer is very clear and crisp. As with the first plate, there are two small areas of glaze abrasion (roughness) on the edge. This is an area where the glaze has been rubbed off or has worn off leaving a rough patch. There are no chips or cracks. There is all-over even crazing throughout, this is mostly evident on the back. The face has some light utensil marks that are only evident in certain light and at certain angles.

Plate 3: date imprint “F” over 95 which dates it to February 1895. This plate is an excellent condition. This plate has only minor roughness on the edges from glaze abrasion. The transfer is a medium blue, very crisp and clean. The crazing very light on this outlet piece. There are some light utensil marks on the front. Says only evident in certain light in certain angles. Overall, this plate is excellent with very light crazing and no chips or cracks.

All three of these plates are authentic 19th century Spode's tower flow blue plates. The vast majority of these plates available online are not from the 19th century and are instead from the 1940s through present day. If you're looking for antique plates, these may be a good fit for you. Please reach out to me if you have any questions. These have been in my family since they were purchased back in the late 19th century.

I also have larger dinner plates available in my shop!

Some information about the history and manufacturing of these plates:

Starting in about 1894 the pattern was printed in cobalt blue with a white Gadroon (rope) rim which became very popular. The production of Tower by Spode ceased completely with the closure of the factory in 2009. Tower pattern was introduced c1814 and was derived from a printed illustration in the book by Merigot ‘Views of Rome and its Vicinity' published c1796-1798. Tower depicts the Bridge of Salaro, near Rome. The bridge which originally had a keep built on top of it survives although it is now underneath the main route leading out of Rome to the airport. The Tower pattern was printed in a variety of colors during its almost 200 year production history but particularly in blue and later in pink. The original pattern was transfer printed in medium blue which is pale. In about 1860 it was produced in a darker, ‘flowing' blue known as Royal Saxon blue or flow blue.