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Flow Blue Ceramics
Victorian Fashion and Collectors Passion
By Jeffrey B. Snyder
Hong Kong patterned wash pitcher and basin by a British potter. The pitcher stands 8 inches high, while the bowl measures 10 inches in diameter x 3 1/2 inches high.
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From the 1840s through the early years of the 20th century, Flow Blue tablewares, tea, coffee, and chocolate sets, dessert services, kitchenwares, and household decorations were very popular with middle-class American consumers beginning on the East Coast and moving west with the expanding nation. The British first developed flowing blue decoration and quickly discovered that these wares - while unpopular in their home market - were wildly successful in the American export market.
British potters would continue to produce Flow Blue wares in forms and patterns that matched every fashion trend of each passing decade. Today, American collectors find Flow Blue every bit as appealing as their Victorian predecessors did when Queen Victoria ruled the British Isles.
From its introduction, America's consumers adored the dark blue hazy patterns and purchased Flow Blue by the barrel full. As the 19th century progressed, Flow Blue found its way into a variety of households - beginning with the burgeoning middle classes and expanding until these wares were available to nearly everyone by the late 19th century.
While England would always be the largest producer of Flow Blue, France, Germany, and Holland followed the English lead and produced their own flowing wares. After 1875, American potters began serving up renditions of Flow Blue to compete with English and European production. Two of the best known American potteries producing flowing wares were the Wheeling Pottery Company, of Wheeling, W.Va., and the Mercer Pottery Company of Trenton, N.J.
What ís in a Name?
Flow Blue Rhine pattern face pitcher by the British potter Thomas Dimmock & Company (in business from c. 1828-1859), 6" high. A diamond shaped registration mark on the pitcher dates Dimmock's registry of this pattern to May 7, 1844.
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The term "Flow Blue" broadly describes predominantly hard, white-bodied earthenwares decorated with underglazed transfer printed designs. Once applied, these designs were caused to bleed or "flow" into the undecorated portions of the vessel. The addition of lime or chloride of ammonia into the protective shell of the fire-clay sagger surrounding the wares while firing the glaze, produced the desired "flowing" effect.
By 1840, English potters were producing an ever expanding variety of dining services, tea sets, and household ceramics with earthenware bodies as white as the much coveted Chinese porcelain, but much more durable and eminently suitable for arduous overseas travel to foreign markets. These tough, white ceramics were christened white wares, semi-porcelains, Spode's "Stone China," and Mason's acclaimed "Ironstone China." These white wares were also considerably less expensive than the Chinese export porcelains, making them very attractive to a growing Victorian middle class by mid century.
England's potters decorated the surfaces of these sturdy ceramics with striking, mass-produced patterns quickly and inexpensively using transfer printing processes perfected in the 18th century. The quality of the blue printed wares was high. Large export markets opened or expanded in North America, Europe, and India where consumers sought elegant, matched sets of wares while avoiding the high costs and fragility of true porcelains.
Among the transfer printed wares was the style which came to be known as "Flow Blue." The flowing effect was originally sneered at by British critics within the potting industry. Never-the-less, it was attractive and popular with overseas consumers. It was also an aid to potters; spreading over the white surface of their wares, the color bleed hid a myriad of potting imperfections, from poorly joined seams on transfer prints to bubbles in the body of the ware. This was wonderful for manufacturers as the Victorian ideal of the "perfect finish" was either great realistic detail and meticulous surface finish or the concealment of the methods of production used to obtain the finished result. Flow Blue enabled manufacturers to meet the ideal with ease. In fact, some pieces were so heavily flown that the original pattern was completely obscured.
Identifying Flow Blue Today
Flow Blue and its patterns may be organized into three general periods of production: The Early-Victorian period from circa 1835 to 1860, the Middle-Victorian period from the 1860s through the 1870s, and the Late Victorian period from the 1880s through the early 1900s. The term "Victorian" is used loosely, bearing in mind that the formidable English Queen Victoria did not take the throne until 1837 and ended her reign in 1901.
Candia pattern punch bowl and ladle by the British potter Cauldon, Ltd. of Shelton and Hanley, Staffordshire. The manufacturer's mark on the punch bowl was in use from c. 1905 to 1920. The punch bowl measures 17 5/8" in diameter x 8" high. The ladle measures 11 1/2" long.
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Pattern designs and themes change recognizably through each period. Generally speaking, in the Early Victorian period Oriental patterns based on imported Chinese porcelains and romanticized scenic patterns were the norm. Through the Middle Victorian period, floral patterns grew in popularity, while Japanese motifs were introduced to the Western public. By the Late-Victorian period, Japanese, Arts and Crafts, and Art Nouveau designs proliferated.
As Flow Blue patterns and themes changed frequently, there were basically two distinctive types of patterns. The most common pattern type features a distinct central image and a separate border design. The amount of white space left between the border and center design varied from pattern to pattern and from one decade to another with changing aesthetics. Border designs usually completely cover the rim of a plate or platter. Both the border and center designs conform to plates and platters best and were adjusted to fit hollow forms. Small pieces such as butter pats and cup plates generally received only a small portion of either the center or border pattern for decoration.
Sheet patterns, on the other hand, have no separate centers or borders. A single pattern covers the entire object as if it had been covered with a sheet of wallpaper. Sheet patterns came in two distinct varieties: floral patterns and marble patterns. Floral patterns became popular in the 1860s and continued to attract consumers on into the early 20th century. Evidence suggests that the popularity of marble patterns was strong early in the 19th century. Marble patterns most often were found decorating chamber sets.
Often, identifying the manufacturer and the name of the pattern adorning a particular piece of Flow Blue is a simple matter of either turning the plate over or the vase upside down. Transfer printed patterns such as Flow Blue frequently included printed or impressed manufacturers' marks on the bottoms of plates and the undersides of hollowwares.
Printed marks were created as part of the overall transfer print and applied at the same time. Impressed marks were pressed into the unfired clay underside or base. Whether printed or impressed, these marks contained the firm's name, initials, symbol, and location - or some combination of these. Often the pattern name is supplied with the mark as well.
These marks are one of the best and easiest guides to identifying Flow Blue. However, many small firms either saw no reason to use marks (as they had no name recognition value) or sometimes used marks which have never been identified because of the short life span and limited production of the company. Also, be aware that a few firms printed the name of the ceramic body or of that body's shape rather than the name of the pattern on their marks.
With a little study, some serious looking, and a bit of luck, you can build an impressive collection of Flow Blue in a single pattern or a stunningly wide variety of patterns from throughout the Victorian period.
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Published by Collectors News, P.O. Box 306, Grundy Center, IA 50638, 800-352-8039, www.collectors-news.com.
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