Vogue Sunray coffee pot and lid: C.4.1 & A-2018

Titles

Vogue Sunray coffee pot and lid

Maker(s)

Factory: Shelley Pottery Ltd
Designer: Slater, Eric

Entities

• Coffee pot and lid

Categories

• Bone china

Description

Bone china, transfer printed in fawn and painted over-glaze in yellow and black enamels.

Bone-china coffee pot in ‘Vogue’ shape. The pot has straight sides with top wider than base, a raised flaring foot, an open triangular handle and a straight spout of triangular cross section. Decorated on each side with ‘Sunray’ pattern, a stylised Art Deco design of black sun with yellow surrounding glow and fawn rays, the sun against the rim; on one side the rays reach down to the base, on the other less than halfway down. Thin black and yellow bands run round the foot, the top of the pot and the spout. The handle is yellow. The lid is slightly domed with a concave centre and a triangular black and yellow knob and is outlined with two bands of yellow. It has an off centre vent hole and two lugs on the inside.

Notes

History note: Given by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum with a contribution from the Decorative Arts Society Purchase Fund

Legal notes

Given by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum

Place(s) associated

• Fenton ⪼ Staffordshire ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (2018-01-29)

Dating

20th Century, first half#
1930 CE - Circa 1933 CE

Note

Part of a coffee service made by Shelley Pottery, Staffordshire. Joseph Shelley joined Wileman & Co. at the Foley Works, Fenton, in 1872. Under his son Percy, the trade name ‘Shelley’ was used from c.1910. Incorporated as Shelley Potteries Ltd in 1929, the business continued to produce bone china useful and decorative wares until 1966, when it was taken over by Allied English Potteries.

The set comprises coffee pot with lid, sugar bowl, cream jug, two cups with saucers, two side plates and a cake plate. Vogue shape was designed by Eric Slater, Shelley’s Art Director, and produced from 1930 until around 1933, with many different patterns; ‘Sunray’ is pattern number 11742. The factory mark was in use from 1925-45.