Crown Ducal Period Advertising

Period advertising material for Crown Ducal can be found online in projects that are scanning old newspapers. I found hundreds of examples within a few hours searching, but the majority are not explicit about the pattern and so are of no real value, but I do believe this could be useful resource to help with the production history of Crown Ducal ware.

The main surprise for me was for how long the popular patterns remained in production. One always felt that the well known patterns, Red Tree, Sunburst and Bristol had long production runs, but if one takes the advertising at face value there could have been quite a few designs that Richardsons were able to rely upon throughout the 30s, 40s and 50's. 

Here are a few observations that caught my eye.

Lithograph Rosalie on Florentine tableware shape, ivory glaze & gold edge

Rosalie on Florentine shape, ivory glaze and gold edge

Quite a common pattern and easily found at auction but I never knew how old the design was. The standard Rosalie on Florentine shape, ivory glaze with gold edge is not recorded in the surviving pattern books. The transfer, (made by Ratauds, No.6319), is known to exist from the early 1930s because it exists with other shapes or glazes. There is publicity material for Rosalie in a trade magazine from 1955 but the Florentine shape itself dates to about 1930. There was always the possibility that Rosalie on Florentine could have been either a post war introduction or date to early 1930’s but it is great to have found the evidence of its long production history.

Advertisement in The Binghampton Press 5 October 1943

So far I have found advertisements for Rosalie in the:

Albany (New York) Evening News 2 June 1933

Leader Post (Regina) 15 October 1935

The Binghampton Press (New York) 13 May 1940

The Binghampton Press (New York) 30 April 1943

The Binghampton Press (New York) 5 October1943 (illustrated)

The Knickerbocker News (Albany New York) 6 June 1945

The Binghampton Press (New York) 13 July 1945 (illustrated)

The Binghampton Press (New York) 29 September 1949
Pottery and Glass April 1955

Western Herald (NSW) 20 July 1956

The June 1933 advert is significant because the pattern books start at pattern 2900 which dates to May 1933 and so the pattern probably predates the start of these documents by a few months or a year. Therefore there is good evidence that the pattern remained in production for almost 25 years, (possibly longer).

Empress pattern (4746) on Avon shape tableware

The advertisement shown above with Rosalie also promotes the Empress pattern. This is a design with a known pattern number, 4746, which dates to the summer of 1936. It is one of the earliest popular designs that Crown Ducal created with a rich coloured band on the Avon shape and with gold coloured detailing and floral transfers. The same design was also made with a maroon, (deep pink), band as pattern 4745 and a green band as pattern 4747. I believe the name Empress was used for all three colour versions. The floral transfer was made by the Universal Transfer Co. Ltd. (litho number 8944). For Crown Ducal patterns it is referred to as the Yukon litho after their first pattern that used it. 

Empress pattern 4746 on Avon shape tableware

Advertisements for the Empress pattern have been found in the:

The New York Sun 2 February 1940
The Binghampton Press (New York) 13 May 1940

The Binghampton Press (New York) 19 February 1943

The Binghampton Press (New York) 5 October 1943 (illustrated)

Charm pattern (1790) on Gainsborough shape tableware

The Charm pattern is the third design illustrated in the above advertisement. This is the oldest design of the three and is one of the earliest, and most popular patterns on the Gainsborough shape. The lithograph decoration was made by the Universal Transfer Co. Ltd., (litho number 7506). From the dates of the advertisements Charm remained in production for at least 15 years. There is a mystery why examples of Charm are numbered with 1790 as do references to the design in Crown Ducal documents. But Richardsons own publicity for the launch of the pattern in the Pottery Gazette of 1930 labels it as pattern 1768, (or perhaps there is a minor design difference between the two that I am missing).

An example of Charm, 1790

Advertisements for the Charm pattern have been found in the:

The Pottery Gazette and Glass trade Review 5 February 1930 (illustrated)
The Binghampton Press (New York) 16 October 1930
The Montreal Gazette 19 October 1934 (illustrated)
The Rochester Chronicle 27 January 1937 (illustrated)
The Binghampton Press (New York) 12 January 1940
The Vancouver Sun 9 December 1942 (illustrated)
The Binghampton Press (New York) 9 July 1943 (illustrated)
The Binghampton Press (New York) 5 October 1943 (illustrated)
The Binghampton Press (New York) 13 July 1945 (illustrated)

Advertisement in The Montreal Gazette 19 October 1934

The George Washington bicentenary commemorative plates of 1932

A series of twelve plates made for the USA market in celebration of the Washington bicentennial. Two feature articles have been found discussing the home furnishing memorabilia available including the Crown Ducal plates.

An example of a Washington bicentenary commemorative plate

Feature article in the New York Sun 25 January 1932

The feature in The New York Sun of 25th January 1932 includes the following text relating to the plates:

A whole series of Washington plates is offered by several of the stores, and each plate in the set of twelve illustrates a different event in the life of Washington. Service, dinner and dessert plates are available in this design in Crown Ducal ware, of which the borders recreate fine old eighteenth century patterns, and the colorings include dark blue, pink or mulberry on white. The center scenics show each of the houses connected with Washington Sulgrave Manor, ancestral home of the family in England; Wakefield; his birth place, and Mount Vernon. The leading events in his career are depicted, together with groups of his family, associates and friends.

Feature article in the Brooklyn Eagle Magazine 21 February 1932

A full page article in the Brooklyn Eagle Magazine of 21st February 1932 has an illustration of one of the plates and discusses the themes thus:

Another patriotic textile is somewhat broader in scope, beginning with the landing of the Pilgrims and including the boston Tea Party and Betsy Ross at work upon the flag; also reproducing the famous "Spirit of 76" and Washington Crossing the Delaware". Leutze's great painting is one of the most frequent designs to be met amongst the bicentennial decorations, as in spite of the outbursts that come now and then from some art critic denouncing the great achievement as bad art, or from a matter of fact sailor who rails against the possibility of a rowboat holding so many people and the impracticability of the father of our country standing in such attitude under such circumstances, the famous picture continues to be the symbol of patriotism and courage for Americans.

It is one of the twelve patriotic designs imprinted upon a set of Crown Ducal plates, one of the modern Staffordshire wares. And here again history repeats itself as the idea of featuring American scenes and symbols upon chinaware was first adopted by the Staffordshire potters immediately after the Revolutionary War as a means of capturing the American trade. All feelings of animosity engendered by the war were put aside in the interest of business. And upon the "Old Blue" Staffordshire ware - the tableware of early America and one of the most prized subjects of Americana - was to be found patterns representing American scenes, episodes from American history, and the likenesses of our national heroes.

In the same -colors, today - the blue, the mulberry and pink – as a century and a half ago the new Staffordshire pottery repeats itself. And among the new designs on the patriotic plates we see reproduced famous paintings and prints, "Surrender of Cornwallis." "Washington and his mother." "Adams proposing Washington as Commander-in-Chief." "Washington and His Family." also views of Mt. Vernon, Wakefield, his birthplace, and Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of the Washingtons in England.

With dated commemorative plates they end up in the sales the following year. Here is an example from the New York Sun in 1933.

Advertisement in The New York Sun 15 February 1933

The twelve designs in the series are titled:

• Surrender of Cornwallis
• Washington and Lafayette at Mount Vernon
• John Adams Proposing G Washington as Commander in Chief of the American Army
• Washington at Trenton
• Washington crossing the Delaware
• Washington’s Headquarters Morristown NY
• Washington and His Family 
• Washington and His Mother
• Mount Vernon
• Washington at Valley Forge
• Birthplace of Washington at Wakefield
• Washington Ancestral Home

Images of all the plates can be found on the New York Historical Society website

http://www.nyhistory.org/exhibits/search?words=washington%20crown%20ducal

Two Queen Anne shape designs, Melrose and Vine and Charlotte Rheads Rialto and Belfast designs on Cotswold shape.

The Queen Anne shape with fluted moulding was always more popular in the USA than the UK and here are a couple of lithograph designs with ivory glaze that were mentioned in the advertisements. Vine, 3566, was designed in early 1934, and Melrose, 4041, is from the end of 1934. The Vine lithograph was made by the Universal Transfer Co. Ltd, No. 8535 and the Melrose litho was made by Ratauds.

Platter in Vine, 3556 and coffee cup in Melrose, 4041

Advertisement for Vine in The New York Sun 5 December 1934

Advertisement in The Binghampton Press 28 January 1937

The advertisement for Melrose is not illustrated with the Crown Ducal patterns but is still useful as it tells us that the design was on sale and probably in production for around 3 years. A similar production period would to apply to the other designs mentioned, Rialto, 3140 and Belfast, 3154, which are probably Charlotte Rhead designs from late summer of 1933.

Top Belfast , 3154 and below Rialto, 3140

It has been interesting to link recent images of Crown Ducal pottery to the period advertising and fortunately there is plenty of scope to revisit the subject with more patterns in a future post.