1860s 10-piece Flow Blue Mulberry Polychrome serving pieces, Grecian Border by Liddle, Elliot and Son

Pieces included: Two massive turkey platters (one smooth and one with a well and tree), a tall soup tureen with lid and underplate and five soup bowls.

The polychrome design features feathery, shell-like scalloped shapes with pink and orange-red colors. A very fine transferware pattern was used with the mulberry color to form shapes and flourishes, accents (note the hand-painted lines on the handles, the rope border underneath the copper lustre at the top of tureen, and the teeth-like daggers detail underneath the tureen's main pattern band). The design repeats at the foot of the tureen, on the lid and underplate and the borders of the soup bowls and platters.

Note the flow of the mulberry dye on the tureen's lid, which is also very visible on the back of the soup bowls. The maker of these pieces did an amazing job in neatly applying the mulberry transferware pattern, the polychrome colors and the copper lustre banding and accents, so the patterns and designs are very clear, yet there is also the much-desired flow blue mulberry halo.

The ironstone body of the three-piece tureen set is as impressive as the mulberry transferware. The lid handle, tureen handles and underplate handles are high-relief twigs in design. The lid and underplate also feature high relief grape leaves which are highlighted by hand-painted mulberry. Early Staffordshire pottery was as much about the "shape" as the "patterns", in this case a flow blue mulberry and polychrome pattern.

Sizes: Both the turkey platter and well and tree platter are app. 23 1/4" by 18 1/4". The well and tree platter is app 3" tall, the turkey platter, app 2 1/2". The soup plates are 10 3/8" in diameter. The soup tureen set from underplate to lid is 23" tall by 18" wide (handle to handle). The tureen itself is 15" by 11" with the underplate adding the width and height.

Condition issues: This set is in amazing condition with two very minor chips (on the underside of the underplate's foot and the foot of the well and tree platter) and one very obvious staple repair to the tureen lid's handle. While the staple repair is technically a flaw, it is also an example of early Victorian handiwork. See closeups for both the staple repair and stress-crazing on the handle.

The set dates to the 1860s. It is not signed, but is a pattern called Grecian Border by Liddle, Elliot & Son and does have some of their flow marks on the back: Xs, Vs and triangles.

This ten-piece serving set is a very usable and stunning example of Staffordshire ironstone with a flow blue mulberry polychrome transferware pattern. These would make an amazing, year-round decorator pieces for a showcase dining room and a beautiful addition to your dining table.

Please email if you would like to see more pictures as I could only include a few. It will arrive in four boxes.

Item ID: 1055