Hi Barbara,
My question is about a large platter that I own. I'd like to know about how old it is, where it was made, if the glaze is a tin-glaze, its current value, if any, and any other information. I hope you can help me because I've been stumped by this for several years. I alternate between thinking it's very old or, at the other extreme, a fake.
Its size is 18 1/2" x 14 1/2". It is marked with an impressed stamp on the back that reads "FELL" (1/2" x 1/4" in size).
The platter is white with a blue-tinted glaze and has a cobalt blue feather-painted border around the scalloped edge. Under the blue border is a very lightly embossed design that can only be seen if you hold it just right to the light. The platter has a 2" flat rim that sharply dips into a rounded verge of about 1". The platter is in good condition with a few light scratches on the front.
I'm curious to find out if this piece is from the Thomas Fell (& Co.) pottery in the UK that created earthenwares and creamwares between 1817 and 1890. I've also found information that the name Fell was associated with a pottery in Trenton, N.J. for a few years in the 20th century.
I found the platter in an antique shop in Hillsboro, Texas, for $40 several years ago. I look forward to any information you can give me.
Linda Nelson
Dear Linda,
"FELL" was a rare mark from the early 19th century, belonging to the Thomas Fell Co., a manufacturer of earthenware at St. Peter's Pottery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, between 1817-90. The pattern is one that was very common for earthenware (I have two plates with the same feathering in blue). It was a very simple one that relatively unskilled workers could produce. The impressed design on the edge may have been on the blank form manufactured elsewhere, or used as a guide for the design, or re-used from another pattern.
This was utilitarian ware, not fine china. As such, it was produced in quantity by many manufacturers, and from my experience one manufacturer's product doesn't look very different from another's. At the same time the feather-brushed pattern was being made from relatively "soft" clay, other manufacturers were making ceramics now known colloquially as "flow blue", with elaborate scenes and fancy shapes, from fine kaolin and white clays.
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