 |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
|
 |
Hunting Scenes Pattern no.: 2/7636 Introduced: 1922 Discontinued: 1955 The original watercolour subjects painted by Lionel Edwards were commissioned by Soane and Smith. A full range of tableware was produced as well as miscellaneous items such as ashtrays and a cigarette box. Many scenes were depicted. The tableware was usually on Spode's Imperial body - a fine ivory-coloured earthenware - with a pale brown band at the edge overprinted in black to simulate an oak-grained effect. The pattern number is 2/7636 and the registration number 691240 registered the design with the British Patent Office in 1922. There were other versions, in shorter ranges of a more expensive nature, some on bone china. The scenes were transfer-printed from copper plates and later coloured expertly by skilled painters, the printed outline serving only as a feint guide to the artist. These printing copper plates were produced by a photo-etching process by the Sun Engraving Co. Ltd. from the original watercolour paintings. Constant wear, inherent in the transfer-printing process of pottery caused the quality of the prints to become so feint that much of the detail was lost. A point was reached at which the definition was so poor that the artists could not paint the animals correctly. The pattern was then withdrawn. All objects were decorated with one of the subjects from three ranges of studies: the main set of 12 scenes depicted some of England's famous hunts; these were used on the 10", 8" and 7" size plates, and selected subjects were used for the meat serving dishes. A second set, using the principle stages of the hunting day were available on the 6" and 5" plates. Both these sets of scenes carried the titles appropriate to the different stages of the hunting activities and the large plates also included the name of the hunt depicted. A third set of similar scenes were studies of the individual participants of the hunt. A list of scenes is at the end of this information. Lionel Edwards was born on 9th November 1878 the younger son of Dr. James Edwards of Chester and Harriet Maine of Kelso. He married Ethel Ashness Wells in 1905 and, after an active life as an artist, press illustrator and writer on sporting events, died on 13th April 1966. His original paintings for this series were framed and sold by Messrs. Soane and Smith and are now in America. Soane and Smith ceased trading in about 1938 and copyright passed to W. T. Copeland & Sons Ltd.. Messrs. Balding & Mansell printers of Wisbech, Norfolk held printing plates and reproduced them as a calendar in 1953. (Balding & Mansell had printed the illustrated brochure for Soane & Smith in the 1920s). While the original paintings were in the hands of Balding & Mansell they were photographed in black and white. The prints were later accurately coloured using the Copeland plates patterns for the colours. The subjects: Numbered Series for 10" and 8" (full picture) and 7": Hunting Scene The English Hunt depicted
Numbered Series for the 6" and 5" plates. The same scene is used on both, but there are two sizes:
There is also an alternative for No. 12 - The Last Draw Two very small scenes for use on covers etc are
Some of the scenes are repeated in different sizes to suit the various objects which comprised the services. With thanks to Robert Copeland for help in compiling this information sheet.
|
|
 |
|
|
