L241 ULTRA RARE MOLDED SCOTTISH 1840s BRUSH STROKE DABBED SPONGEWARE CHEESE DISH

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LOT # 241 Detailed Photos Estate Road Show L241 ULTRA RARE MOLDED SCOTTISH 1840s BRUSH STROKE DABBED SPONGEWARE CHEESE DISH Item Description The Estate Road Show is proud to showcase this INCREDIBLE original 1840s to 1850s Scottish Spongeware, Giant cheese wedge covered dish in an ULTRA RARE rustic molded, plus combination brush stroke and dabbed floral finish. The early to mid Victorian Scottish / English molded serving pieces are few and far between, but to find a brilliantly colored example such as this is ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE!! Furthermore, 90% + of the wares from that era were finished in one of the four disciplines exclusively, those being Brush Stroke, Spattering, Dabbing, or Sponge Spattering (Stick Spattering) / please see the history below. Our angled dish features a concentric flowering bush pattern with both the upper & lower bands, as well as the dish rim, finished in a Rare yellow ground plus gorgeous Royal blue and ruddy red Dabbing. The top of the lid is completed in a splendid Brush Stroke green, yellow, and red Poppy floral with trailing leaves, and is topped with a classic English rustic twig handle, sporting a beautiful Rockingham style brown glaze. Put simply, this is the FINEST, AND MOST ELABORATELY FINISHED SPONGEWARE SERVER WE HAVE EVER SEEN!!Research consulted: Spongeware 1835 ⿿ 1935 Makers Marks & patterns / by Henry E. Kelly, Arnold & Dorothy E. Kowalsky; Spongeware & Spatterware 3rd Edition / by Kevin McConnell Spongeware is a specific decorating discipline that officially originated in Scotland ca. 1835. The technique was amenable to early earthenwares, but would also later apply to Ironstone, and English semi pporcelain, which fostered a century long love affair with the finished products. Manufactured In the numerous factories of early Industrial-era England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales the art form was well received whenever it was discovewred. The term Spongeware was strictly Scottish / English in lineage, while the term Spatterware became first associated with, and then supplanted the Spongeware reference in America. This information is taken from the classic reference by Henry Kelly and Arnold and Dorothy Kowalsky, Spongeware 1835-1935. Spongeware or Spatterware was first recorded in Scotland ca. 1835, as potteries in Glasgow began producing utilitarian ware for the frugal Northern British Isles clientele. The pieces were highly successful, and soon production began in Staffordshire, England, and to other countries in Europe and eventually the U.S.A. Although the pieces were rarely marked, most of the lines were produced for export to America, and was highly sought after in the Eastern German & Pennsylvania Dutch communities Spongware was decorated using one or a combination of four methods: 1) Hand painting or brushstroke finish decoration was done by semi skilled artisans. 2) Spattering was the application of color by blowing a powder onto the body using a pipe. This was expensive and required skill. 3) Consequently, the procedure was altered and achieved the same essential look by Dabbing on the color with an ordinary sponge. Oddly enough, this hand finish art is called Dabbing. 4) Stick Spatter or Sponge Printing was more assembly line in nature than the three previous disciplines, being quicker, and involving stamping a pattern using a piece of cut sponge on a stick. The most common colors were blue, red and green, with yellow being very Rare. In Scotland purple and brown became exceptionally popular, and shortly thereafter, pink and black were introduced. The English & Scotish Spongeware from the early to mid Victorian period ca. 1835 to 1870, are the most valuable, and sought after of all examples. Some (not all) of the fine potters marketing Songeware from this period are as follows: Scotland; Scot Methvens Links Pottery, Llanelly Pottery, Bells Pottery, Bo ness Pottery, Auld Heather Ware Scotland ⿿ the Links Pottery at Kirkcaldy // England; C.T. Mailing, Wm. Adams, George Jones, Baker & Co., Elsmore & Foster, Edge Malkin & Co., Allertons, J.G. Meak... read more

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