3318? - Primula

Tube-lining: Black
Enamels: Yellow, orange & green
Glaze: Green Padua
Frequency Ranking: 36/50
Design Date: Early 1934
Production Period:1934 - 1935
Pattern Name: Explicitly named in trade journals of the period.

Charlotte Rhead Crown Ducal pattern 3318? Primula
Pattern 3318? Primula
Primula is an enigma since of all the popular Charlotte Rhead, Crown Ducal patterns, no examples have been seen with a pattern number and the design is not described in the surviving pattern books. There are two clues to its design date.
1. The Pottery Gazette of February 1934 presents Primula, Rhodian (3272) and Granada (3321) as new patterns in the same article.
2. The tube-liners who worked on Primula in Period 1 very closely match those who worked on Rhodian and Granada so it is reasonable to assume these three patterns were in production around the same time during 1934.

In the Crown Ducal pattern book the entry for 3318 is blank. It is tempting to suggest that this could be the pattern number for Primula as it would fit perfectly. There is no supporting evidence for this proposition so it has to remain speculation, but 3318 is the number I use to position the Primula pattern entry in the pattern sequence. Most examples of Primula have a period 1 backstamp, they outnumber period 2 pieces by 3:1.

References of the Period
Pottery Gazette and Glass Trades Review, February 1934 page 185.

Finally, there are included in the new samples of this house many fine creations in ornamental wares, and particularly in vases, bowls and other items, the work of Miss Charlotte Rhead. A number of these treatments will be marketed under the name of “Rhodian” ware; another, which has for its theme a fruit pattern on a stone-blue and grey ground, with blue at the bottom  shading off to stone-grey at the top, will be styled the “Granada.” There is also and interesting decorative treatment known as the “Primula,” which has a green ground overlaid with flowers of that particular species from which the name is derived.