“Willis” Copeland & Garrett Plate with Spode Mark

Stoneware plate with both Copeland & Garrett and Spode marks, printed design and colored enameling. c. 1833. 
 
Dimensions: Approximately 8⅝” diameter.
 
Stoneware plate with both Copeland & Garrett and Spode marks, printed design and colored enameling. c. 1833. 
 
The rim is decorated with the so-called “Ship Border” of flowers and a diaper design that flows into the cavetto.
 
The center design is the “Willis” pattern incorporating flowers, a tree, the lingzhi or sacred fungus of immortality, and a butterfly.
 
The reverse has both a Copeland & Garrett “Late Spode” printed mark and a faint impressed Spode “New Stone China” mark.
 
On March 1, 1833, William Copeland purchased the business from the executors of Josiah Spode III’s estate., naming the new business Copeland & Garrett.
 
The Spode’s Willis pattern, dating back to 1815, was continued by the new firm. The use of the term “Late Spode” identified the pattern as one of the old Spode firm and not a new design of Copeland & Garrett.
 
This plate has both the earlier Spode impressed mark and the printed mark of the new firm.
 
According to Robert Copeland at p. 134 of “Spode and Copeland Marks”, 2nd Ed., the use of both marks indicates that this plate was manufactured by Spode prior to the sale and decorated by Copeland & Garrett after the sale.
 
Condition: Glaze flaws, staining on reverse, otherwise in excellent condition consistent with age and usage. Please examine the photos; they are part of the description.