I have been collating information about Crown Ducal table lamps, particularly from the era when Charlotte was working at the company. It has been tough, as there are not many examples in circulation. So this post is a presentation of what I have discovered so far. I hope collectors of Crown Ducal and Charlotte Rhead pottery will find it of interest.
As usual with trying to research Crown Ducal there is the frustration with the lack of period documentation and this is particularly acute when it comes to the topic of table lamps. The surviving Crown Ducal pattern books do contain a few freehand enamel designs for lamps, with partial sketches of shapes, but most of these designs and shapes have yet to be seen as examples. Moreover the bulk of the reserved numbers specific to lamps have the teasing reference “See Lamp Book”, which is not believed to be a surviving document so we may never know what these are.
There are three styles of Crown Ducal table lamps made by A G Richardson & Co Ltd.
As usual with trying to research Crown Ducal there is the frustration with the lack of period documentation and this is particularly acute when it comes to the topic of table lamps. The surviving Crown Ducal pattern books do contain a few freehand enamel designs for lamps, with partial sketches of shapes, but most of these designs and shapes have yet to be seen as examples. Moreover the bulk of the reserved numbers specific to lamps have the teasing reference “See Lamp Book”, which is not believed to be a surviving document so we may never know what these are.
There are three styles of Crown Ducal table lamps made by A G Richardson & Co Ltd.
- Shapes created especially to be lamps
- Modified vase shapes that have the same profile as vases but with the addition of a top and with the base removed.
- Vase shapes that have the addition of a hole to allow the cable to exit the side or through the base.
It is also possible to find other home made or professional conversions of vases to lamps that involve the drilling of the fired and glazed ceramic body, but these are not the subject of this note. But anyone buying a Crown Ducal lamp should be aware that these exist.
Crown Ducal lamps prior to the 1930s seem to be in the third category, that is to say they are simply vases that had a hole created in their bases prior to being fired and glazed. Look for a smooth edged hole where the glaze continues to the inside edge of the hole and into the inside of the vase shape. There are various styles but they tend to sit on a wooden or metal plinth so that the cable is allowed to exit underneath. At the top of the vase is a cover to which is attached a metal tube and/or the bulb holder and shade fittings. If you search Google images for Crown Ducal Lamp you will soon come across images of a turquoise blue lamp and a couple of chintz patterned examples.
Occasionally one can find Charlotte Rhead patterned vases from the 1930s for sale with these holes in the base but have subsequently lost their lamp fittings. In the past I have seen examples with the original fittings but I have not managed to find any images to show.
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| Hole in base of vase for original lamp conversion |
I have seen only two designs in the second style and each seems to be unique to a particular Rhead design. (Invariably after making a statement like that someone will come along with an example to prove me wrong!)
The Hydrangea, (3797), pattern was applied to a modified form of the 146 shape with no base and a gently domed top. The cable exit is through a small hole in the side close to the base rim.
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| Lamp base on Crown Ducal vase shape 146 |
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| The domed top, removed base and cable exit hole - otherwise it is Crown Ducal shape 146 |
The Mexican, (6189), pattern is to be found on a similarly modified form of the shape 212 vase.
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| Lamp based on Crown Ducal vase shape 212 |
The first category of lamp style is perhaps the most interesting because the shapes were specifically designed to be lamps, and there are also fragments of period documentation giving some of them shape names.
To date I have found references to, or examples of more than 20 different Crown Ducal specifically designed lamp shapes. Some of these are just references and have yet to be seen, and others are known to exist from pictures on the web but are not recorded in any Crown Ducal documentation.
The earliest references are to a “Lamp Vase No5” shape for patterns 3151, 3152, 3153 and 3159. The patterns are freehand enamelled in blocks of bright colours with perhaps small leaf or floral decorative motifs. The No5 shape silhouette is shown.
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| Lamp Vase No5 silhouette |
There are another cluster of designs for patterns 3500 to 3515 some of which are similar to Charlottes Stitch (3274) and Padua, (2691/3636) designs. Although there is no mention of tube-lining in the description there does remain the possibility that they might be...... you just never know what might be waiting to be discovered. Others have strong similarity to Charlottes
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| Unknown Shapes which may yet turn up with Rhead designs |
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| Lamp Vase No1 shape |
Then there is the shape “Lamp Vase E4”, also referred to as “Geometrical Square Lamp”. Pattern 4132 is decorated quite plainly with panels picked out in fawn on ivory glaze; there is also a version in chocolate brown. Rhead collectors may have seen this shape before as examples of Byzantine (2801) and Tudor Rose (4491) are known to exist on this shape.
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| Pattern 2801 without enamel colours on Lamp Vase E4 shape (Geometrical Square shape) |
Back into more vague territory, pattern 4133 refers to “Lamp Vase E6”. It appears to be an elongated ovoid shape on integral round feet. The whole is decorated with what looks like a jointed bamboo pattern with large star flowers. It may be that this design is moulded into the pottery. The “New Shape Bamboo” is referenced elsewhere in Crown Ducal documents so I believe this shape did go into production – we just have to wait for an example to surface.
Next, patterns 4134 and 4135 a design illustrated in the Pottery Gazette of April 1935 on the “Lamp Vase E5” shape also known as the “Lily” shape. The lily stem, leaves and flower are moulded as part of the pottery shape and decorated with enamels. A few examples have been sold on Ebay over the years so this is probably one of the easier ones to come by. The same shape is used for pattern 4263 which has a mother of pearl lustre ground.
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| Pottery Gazette image of pattern 4134 or 4135 on the Lamp Vase E5 shape (Lily shape) |
Returning to unseen and unknown pattern 4253, 4254 and 4255 refer to “Lamp Vase E1” the “Handled” lamp shape. They are decorated with a Chinese inspired print and enamel floral design but there is no clue as to the shape of the lamp or what the handles look like.
After that, any entry for patterns relating to lamps refers the reader to “See Lamp Book”. A few extra snippets of information are references to a Coronation Lamp E9, (presumably for the coronation of Edward VIII), and other lamp shapes E11, (another elongated ovoid shape), and E12.
A separate information source is a Crown Ducal sample book which has pre-production designs. This has some helpful sketch fragments which tally with known lamp shapes seen with Crown Ducal designs. These are shapes 401, 402 and “Lamp Vase E2” also known as the “Tassel” shape, (the tassels are moulded into the lamp design near the top).
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| Left, pattern 4088 on lamp shape 401. Right, pattern 4100 on lamp shape 402 |
With regard to Crown Ducal lamp shapes with shape names that is all I have found out. But of course that is never the end of the story because other shapes have been seen.
On the late George Conner's website, amongst his huge collection is a splendid shaped Patch (4088) lamp. Scroll down to pattern 4088.
Then we have what looks like a variation of the E5 Lily shape without the lily moulding and a simpler, domed top rather than the extended neck. This shape has been seen with Charlotte's Tudor Rose (4491) and Golden Leaves (4921) patterns and a post WW2 pattern 6568.
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| Left, pattern 4921 and right, pattern 4491 on unknown lamp shape but similar to E5 |
There is another shape which is actually the most commonly found of all the Crown Ducal lamps and appears with Charlotte Rhead patterns Tudor Rose (4491), Manchu (4511), Golden Leaves (4921), Tudor Rose 5393), Tarragona (5623) and Mexican (6189).
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| Unknown ovoid lamp shape known to exist with several Charlotte Rhead designs |
Does anyone know where that Crown Ducal Lamp Book is? It would make everything so much easier!
Edited 19th March 2019 to remove invalid links.
Edited 19th March 2019 to remove invalid links.