Here are some notes that may be of interest to owners of Crown Ducal tableware in the Netherlands. Many thanks to Joost and Bart for sending me the information and pictures used to compile this post. They contacted me to find out more about their Crown Ducal china but I have been unable to find period documents recording their patterns. As with all things Crown Ducal, that is not particularly unusual.
The Crown Ducal pattern books do contain occasional references to designs created specifically for "Holland" and these are often linked to the unfamiliar "Derby" shape for tableware. There are also at least two references to a client in Amsterdam of A G Richardson in the sample design book at the Stoke-on-Trent library.
So I think it is safe to say that Richardsons had at least one trading partner in the Netherlands who commissioned not only specific designs but perhaps a tableware shape made solely for the Dutch market.
The Derby shape from the pattern books and actual examples
This shape name "Derby" is recorded in the pattern books, but as usual the pattern descriptions are often ambiguous with question marks after the name and penciled references to another untypical Crown Ducal shape. Some references seen with "Derby" have the handle shape sketch and are accompanied with the word "Holland". That is my premise that the Derby shape was created primarily for the Netherlands market.
Once I had received more than one set of images of this shape, both from the Netherlands, I was satisfied that the link between the shape name and the examples seemed reasonable.
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| Pattern 4399 entry from the pattern book |
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| Teacup in unknown pattern but showing handle and foot as in pattern book sketch |
The pattern book entry for 4399 shown above does not have the word Holland like many others but does have the best sketch showing the handle and the foot to the cup.
The few definite pattern book entries for the Derby shape are pattern numbers 4386-4391 and 4394-4400. Most are coloured band decoration, some band & line, some freehand leaf/floral and a wonderful art deco line design of concentric circles and sets of parallel lines.
In the Crown Ducal Sample book, The Derby shape patterns are S453, which is the same as pattern 4390 with crimson brown and grey bands. Two unnumbered entries with the "Homer" floral spray and border transfer and the "Fantasy" floral spray and border transfer. S454 with the "Killarney" floral spray transfer and S455 with a Harlequin floral spray transfer.
The photographs I have received from the Netherlands match none of these designs. Both are band and line patterns and the shapes of the hollowware are distinctly different to other shapes from Crown Ducal at this time, There are elements taken from Regent, Victory, Avon and Ionic to create a new shape range.. An additional shape not seen before in other Crown Ducal shape ranges is a large flat serving dish with drain holes believed to be used for presenting asparagus at table.
It has to be said that twin handled soup coupes and tea cups from the Avon range of tableware have similar shaped handles to the Derby teacup. Whether this is coincidence, or they are the same style and yet another example of Richardsons mixing and matching to create an en suite collection will probably have to wait until examples can be inspected hands on at the same time.
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| Black and red lines with three grey bands (patttern 2848) |
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| Black and red lines with three grey bands (patttern 2848) |
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| Blue and yellow lines with wide grey band (unknown pattern) |
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| Blue and yellow lines with wide grey band (unknown pattern) |
The backstamp styles on the pottery imply they would have been made around 1935, but clearly the pattern number, (2848), on the black and red lined design indicates a pattern from 1933. Sadly one which predates the surviving pattern books which means there is no confirmation from period documents.
The Netherlands business connection
In the Crown Ducal sample book there are occasional references to companies that did business with Richardsons, for example Maddock & Miller Inc in New York Cassidy's in Toronto and Rowntrees in York.
A name that appears twice is A.P. Verwoerd, Amsterdam. The first is dated 26 July 1935 with brief description for 11 teaset designs on various shapes, (not including Derby), with known lithograph patterns and dainty freehand floral patterns. This entry occurs between samples S89 and S90.
Then a second A.P. Verwoerd entry has design S451 (Chatham floral lithograph on bon bon comports and bedside sets), and S452 (similar shapes but with the Cotswold Rose floral lithograph). As previously mentioned, S453 is more interesting, it is an illustration of a coloured band design for use on the Derby shape, with outer grey band and inner crimson brown band accompanied with the text "Patt as 4390". Next comes reference to 4 more floral transfer designs for the Derby shape. This cluster of entries are not dated themselves but nearby unrelated entries are S418 dated October 28th 1937 and after S472 there is the date January 21st 1938 so this Verwoerd reference must surely date to end of 1937 or very early 1938.
Detective work has revealed that there was an Adriaan Pieter Verwoerd and wife Roosje who had two china shops in Amsterdam, originally one on P.C. Hooftstraat and later, a second on Rokin - both well known shopping streets. The dates of when these shops were operational is unknown but the key dates in A. P. Verwoerds life appear to fit very well with an earthenware and porcelain china business in the 1930's, (b.1889, m. 1915 d. 1964).
We cannot be sure how long the association between Richardsons and Verwoerd lasted but it would probably have ended by the onset of WW2. Searching for all references to Holland in the pattern books, not those just relating to the Derby shape, there are entries for patterns 3210, 3280, 3782-3785, 3789, 4127-4129, 4156-4159,4239-4242, 4386-4388, 4389-4397. These numbers have design dates from autumn 1933 until summer 1935.
An incomplete story
The red, black and grey band pattern illustrated above has the number 2848 but there is no additional evidence that the Derby shape existed this early, (spring 1933). It was common for Richardsons to use the same pattern number when the the design was used on several shape ranges. Pattern 2848 may well have been a band and line design on Victory or Cotswold shaped tableware and retained this number when applied to the Derby shape in mid 1935 which is the earliest reference to Derby in the pattern books. Although we can confidently say that there was some kind of trading relationship between these two companies from mid 1935 until the end of 1937 the backstamp styles on both these patterns suggest a pre-1935 date of manufacture.
It would be interesting to understand how this relationship came about. The Netherlands had it own successful ceramics industry, What advantage would the Verwoerds have in asking a UK company to produce ware in patterns and shapes that could readily be manufactured in the home country. The picture below shows a teapot warming stand made by Mosa Maastricht and although not an exact pattern match sits well with the Crown Ducal ware and has a similar finish.
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| The teapaot warming stand is made by the Mosa Maastrichtt company |
Perhaps it is time to visit Amsterdam and search the antique and bric-a-brac shops and markets. Surely somewhere there is a surviving piece of Derby shaped tableware in one of the documented patterns waiting to be found.
