Spode Porcelain Botanical Specimen Dishes- a Pair. After William Curtis

Spode Porcelain Botanical Named Specimen Dishes,
After William Curtis,
A Pair,
Circa 1810-20

A superb pair of Spode porcelain botanical dishes with a gilt border and to each end a raised shaped handle decorated with a flower head on a gilt ground. The Spode porcelain dishes are of an deep oval form and were made to part of a dessert service. Each dish has a different botanical specimen after William Curtis.

One dish nais med Gum Cistus and one nais med Large-flowered Monsonia.

The spiderwort also known as Virginian Tradescantia is after Cutis as is the Large-flowered Monsonia, “Monsonia speciosa”, ,”th large pink flowers. A native of the Cape, South Africa.

The botanicals after William Curtis’s The Botanical Magazine illustrated by James Sowerby.

Mark: Each dish is printed with the word SPODE; the Gum Cistus with a purple color and the other in red.

Dimensions: 11 1/8 inches long x 7 3/4 inches x 2 1/4 inches high.

The Botanical Magazine, or Flower-Garden Displayed, is an illustrated publication that began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine is widely referred to by the subsequent name Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. Each of the issues contains a desription, in formal yet accessible anguage, and is renowned for featuring the work of two centuries of botanical illustrators. Many plants received their first publication on the pages, and the keenly detailed illustrations enhanced the description given.

The first issue, published on 1 February 1787, was begun by William Curtis as an illustrated gardening and botanical journal. Curtis was an apothecary and botanist who held a position at Kew Grands and had published the highly praised (but poorly sold) Flora Londinensis a few years before.

The publication familiarized its readers with ornamental and exotic plants presented in octavo format. Artists who had previously given over their flower paintings to an affluent audience now saw their work published in a accessibl to a wider audience. The illustrations were initially hand-colored prints, taken from copper engravings, and intended to complement the text. Identification by a general reader was given in exploded details, some of which were given as a section. This was accompanied by a page or two of text describing the plant’s properties, history, growth characteristics, and some common names for the species.
(From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis%27s_Botanical_Magazine)

(Ref: NY10439-crrx)