English Tea Sets

Shelley Porcelain

                                            Shelley Porcelain

From the very beginning when Shelley entered into partnership with the well-known company of Wileman & Co. in 1872, the company was extremely forward thinking. Whereas other pottery producers were content to rely on their reputation in order to attract customers, Shelley was determined to actively promote its new designs through regular advertisements in the Pottery Gazette and women's magazines.                    






 Its principal target customer was the middle-class female with a discerning eye for fashion. In 1926, as part of a strenuous advertising campaign, the firm introduced the famous and elegant 'Shelley Girl*. She appeared in various guises, often wearing a cloche hat and fox fur, but always posed daintily while sipping tea from a Shelley china cup. The 'Shelley Girl' was also produced as an eye-catching foot-high figure in bone china for use in stylish retail window displays.











Although originally handed out to shops as 'freebies', the figures are now rare and one recently fell under the hammer at for $1000- and can fetch considerably more.

Shelley Porcelain

 A restored Shelley Girl at a recent collectors' fair that made over $2000. One that's not been restored might even sell for up to $3000 she adds.








The result of Shelley's imaginative advertising was an unrivalled distribution of tableware and the promotion of some of the most inventive Art Deco designs ever produced in Britain. Its daring use of design and colour on expensive bone china rather than cheap earthenware was unequalled anywhere in the industry.

Shelley Porcelain

   Shelley's Queen Anne shape was registered in 1926 and appeared with a range of print and enamel patterns from traditional florals and 'Cottage Garden' scenes to more restrained and formal designs. By the late 1920s, these scenes had become more stylised and simplified as Art Deco took hold and the range of colours used to paint the patterns became bolder and less natural - with colours like black, scarlet and sea green creeping into the palette.












 The most successful design on the Queen Anne shape was 'Sunset and Tall Trees'. Introduced in 1929, it continued in production until about 1935.  Other popular Queen Anne patterns include 'Black Leafy Tree', 'Archway of Roses', 'Blue Iris' and 'Daisy'., the most popular way of collecting Shelley tableware is to purchase a trio consisting of a cup, saucer and plate. "Prices for a Queen Anne trio range from $80 to $200.

Shelley Porcelain

The lowest prices apply to patterns like 'Sunrise and Tall Tree' and 'Blue Iris' and the highest to rarely seen designs such as 'Cottage Two' and elaborate floral patterns with coloured panels as opposed to the normal white background on the panels. Most of the patterns didn't actually have names as such, just pattern numbers" he explains.






Naturally, the variations in price also depend on condition. "Some collectors will choose only perfect exampleswhile others accept minor damage or restoration - provided this is reflected in the cost. To pass up the opportunity of acquiring a very unusual piece because of a small hairline crack or restoration though, may not be Wise. Besides, if you are fortunate enough to find a perfect example later, you can always replace it."

Shelley Porcelain

In 1930, Shelley launched the daring Vogue tea-ware shape. The first pattern - number 11738 - appeared in around August of that year. Vogue was severe in appearance with an inverted, steep-sided cone and solid triangular handle on the tea cups and milk jugs. It also represented a dramatic departure from Shelley's previous teaware ranges and has come to typify the most elegant of the extreme Art Deco shapes.










Vogue made a big impact, particularly with its Deco-inspired print and enamel patterns in a limited but vivid range of colours. The most striking was the geometric 'Sunray' while other patterns included angular flower designs and a proliferation of rectangles and squares in various arrangements and contrasting colours. A total of 53 patterns are recorded for the shape based on 24 distinct designs, various colour combinations often being listed as separate patterns.  

Shelley Porcelain

The Mode shape - another fashionable French name - made its debut in September of the same year with pattern number 11755. Like Vogue, it also had an inverted conical shape with solid triangular handle but, whereas Vogue was wide and shallow with a more definite foot, the Mode teacup was more upright with a smaller foot. Nonetheless, coffee cups, tea and coffee pots, milk jugs, sugar bowls, plates and dinnerware are identical for both ranges with the different patterns their only distinguishing feature.





Although 'Sunray' and 'Cubist' patterns were used on Mode, Shelley adopted a range of stylised florals, one of the most striking of which features red or yellow and ochre tulips. Another pattern depicts a black print of peacock butterfly wings, enamelled in yellow or green while others were produced with gold interiors and enamelled in one colour on the outside. In total, 31 patterns based on 19 distinct designs, were applied to the shape.

Shelley Porcelain

"Trios in the more common patterns are priced at $180 TO $400 for Mode and $200 TO $450 for Vogue" explains Richard Hubbard. "You can expect to pay less for patterns such as simple block patterns as well as plain banding and sparse floral designs. More expensive are the strong Art Deco designs like 'Horn of Flowers', 'Harlequin', 'Chevrons' and dripware".







Although Vogue and Mode had enormous visual impact, the designs were only short-lived. The last Vogue pattern - number 12136 - came out in the late winter of 1933 while the final Mode pattern - number 11871 - was introduced in September 1931.

Shelley Porcelain

The solid handle in particular had attracted some criticism and, in response, Shelley introduced a modified shape called Eve in March 1932. Similar to Mode - but originally called New Vogue - it featured a definite foot to the cups and elongated triangular handle.






The teapots also had curved spouts rather than straight ones and the geometric patterns were scaled down to smallish motifs, often complemented by heavy-coloured bands on the rims and bases of the cups. Again, the shape was used for  floral designs incorporating flowers such as gladioli, daisies and pansies which were enormously popular in the 1930s. "Over 50 patterns were produced between 1932 and 1938 with trio prices ranging widely from $100 TO $400.

Shelley Porcelain

 Eve tableware is heavily in demand when an 'Orange Block' part tea service designed by Eric Slater in 1930 go for $2200 and a 'Butterfly Wing' tea-set for six, also designed by Eric Slater in 1930, for $2800
Yet as the need and demand for the more outrageous designs began to diminish, Shelley came up with a new shape - Regent - which proved to be its finest and most enduring. Simple and modern yet more traditional and again designed by Eric Slater, it saw straight lines replaced by curves and the trumpet-shaped cup complemented by a totally circular handle.






Early Regent patterns included florals and the first pattern designed for the shape was 'Syringa' - which was entered into the best ware pattern books in 1932. Geometry was seldom used and various simple shaded techniques were introduced to create patterns such as 'Swirls', 'Bands' and 'Shades'. "Regent was produced well into the 1950s" explains Richard "and it's not surprising that there are over 220 patterns. In terms of cost, banding and swirl trios start from $25 while geometries can cost up to $200

Shelley Porcelain

The 1920s and '30s were also a time when the production of nursery tableware in the potteries became increasingly popular. Shelley was eager to corner its share of the market and achieved this by harnessing the talents of two particularly prominent artists and children's book illustrators - Hilda Cowham and Mabel Lucie Attwell.  



Designs were produced on a wide range of items from baby plates to complete tea-sets. Each Hilda Cowham design was accompanied by acomplete verse or a few lines and her first series was registered by ' Shelley in 1924. Subjects included 'Pussy Cat Pussy Cat', 'Little Bo Peep' and 'A-Hunting We Shall Go*. A second series of six Cowham  designs entitled 'Playtime' appeared in 1927 with much bolder illustrations including a mock battle, toy train and doll's pram.

Shelley Porcelain

The first Mabel Lucie Attwell series depicted animals, children and small elves in green suits known as "Boo Boos' on plates and mugs. Later the same year, a matching nursery tea-set was specially modelled with a toadstool-house teapot, toadstool sugar basin and 'Boo Boo' character milk-jug. A set dating from around 1938 appears in Miller's Price Guide at $550 to $750.

Many new Mabel Lucie Attwell 'Boo Boo' subjects were added to the range during the 1930s as well as fresh designs including the 'Animal' set which featured a duck teapot, comic rabbit, milk jug and chicken sugar bowl. Indeed, by 1937, the range was so vast that retailers could obtain a Jayesse stand on which could be displayed up to 141 pieces of Lucie Attwell nurseryware.

Shelley Porcelain

Although Shelley continued production right up until 1966 when it was taken over by Allied English Potteries - now part of the Royal Doulton Group - the company's tableware heyday spanned just two principal decades. The excitement generated during this time by its innovation and style is what collecting tableware from this period is all about.

  
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