Tea Leaf Ironstone China

Tea Leaf Ironstone China
For over 150 years, English-produced ironstone china has had a significant place at the American table.

It was not long after the turn of the 19th Century that English potters developed and introduced ironstone china, primarily for export to North America. Although William and John Turner patented the first of the inexpensive and durable opaque earthenwares in 1800 their pottery went bankrupt in 1806. Other manufacturers introduced similar wares including Spode, Davenport and Hicks and Meigh, but it wasn't until 1813 when Charles Mason made public his "Patent Ironstone China" that white ironstone became a household word. Mason became the most well-known of the early ironstone potters and held an exclusive patent to the formula for 14 years. By the time his patent expired many of the other Staffordshire potters had developed formulas of their own.
Early white ironstone production was sold generally after being decorated with any number of motifs - copies of Oriental patterns, historical blue, flow blue, mulberry, all-over lustre applications, gaudy designs and numerous others. It was in the 1840's that plain undecorated white ironstone began to be sold in quantity to the world market. All-white ironstone was a huge success with the North American consumer and sold well for many of the dozens of potters whose output was marketed in the States and Canada.
Consumer tastes are ever-changing and nearly concurrent with the popularity of undecorated white ironstone a new trend took hold. Some potters began to enhance their wares with various copper lustre effects and motifs. Beginning simply with the addition of copper-colored bands to pieces, the decorators eventually employed a variety of fanciful floral and geometric motifs. The copper lustre treatment was obtained by the addition of gold or copper oxide to the glazes which the potter used in the decorating phase of the firing. Copper lustre decorated ware is generally characterized by thin banding around the top and base rims of pieces, lustre accents to handles and finials, and often one or more of the motifs shown added prominently to flat and hollowware pieces.
In the mid-1850's Anthony Shaw introduced a new design that was destined to take the consumer market by storm - Tea Leaf. For almost 50 years Tea Leaf-decorated ironstone was a favorite of the American family. More than 30 English potters eventually adopted the Tea Leaf motif and used it on over 100 ironstone body styles. While Tea Leaf popularity waned in the late 1800's, American potters eagerly entered the Tea Leaf market and eventually over 25 American manufacturers also employed the Tea Leaf (or close variant) motif. American production was, however, short-lived and, with the exception of a brief resurgence the 1960's, copper lustre decorated white ironstone didn't at the time recapture the hearts of the American consumer as it had their great-great grandmothers 100 years earlier.

Today's collectors eagerly search out Tea Leaf and all of its variant motifs and copper lustre decorated white ironstone has once again begee prized for its durability, beauty, simplicity, craft and style.
Copyright: Dale Abrams, 1996. May not be reproduced in any form withour written permission.