Thanks, Andrea, for allowing us to use your images in the database. You ask a lot of good questions. It does seem that if the brown color was merely discoloration that it would not be so even all over the body of the piece, but it may be as David says, that there is a brown tint anyway that is intensified by the brown sugar interacting with the earthenware body. The fact that the lid and the creamer are lighter in color seem to suggest that too. While it is true that some patterns use the same center scene on every piece in a set, no matter what it is, others, like Peruvian Horse Hunt, use different scenes depending on what the piece is - a certain size plate will always have one scene, a platter another. The teapot to your creamer and sugar (and chances are good that it IS a set) would likely have a different scene than either of the two pieces you have. You're right that the V in your mark would indicate a date of 1850, but actually this is part of a Y, for a registration date of August 8, 1853. That would have been the date that Anthony Shaw registered the pattern, and then the registry diamond could have been used on any pieces he made thereafter - in theory as late as 1900 when Shaw went out of business, but it seems likely to me that pieces in this pattern were made no later than the 1860s. American Marine was another popular pattern made by G.L. Ashworth though I can't remember that company's dates right off the top of my head. Hope this isn't all too confusing - if there's anything you don't understand please let us know. And thanks again for the use of your pictures!
|