This handsome porcelain cup was made in England by Spode, circa 1820. It is decorated with a bat printed pastoral scene of a person approaching a cottage, with gilt trim at top and bottom. It measures 2-1/4″ high, with an opening of 3-1/4″.
At some point in the 1800s the cup was dropped and broke into three pieces. A china mender with a steady hand used eight tiny brass staples to hold the cup back together.
This small earthenware pottery teapot with squat round shape was made in England during the first quarter of the 19th century. It has a black glaze, aka Jackfiend and Egyptian black, and stands 4-1/2″ high. Due to its small size it is known as both a Bachelor’s and a one-cup teapot. Some collectors and dealers believe that these tiny teapots are miniatures or part of a child’s tea set, but they are actually functioning teapots.
By now my readers know that the main reason I purchased this teapot is due to its early replacement handle. Made by a tinker in the 19th century, the workmanship is a bit crude, as is evident by the malaligned horizontal band laden with excess soldier and the twisted wire support around the base. But even a funny looking tiny teapot with a clunky metal repair is better than burning your fingers on a teapot with no handle.
This teapot of similar form shows what the original handle on mine might have looked like.
Photo courtesy of Ancient Point
This cylindrical form creamware mug was made by Herculaneum Pottery in Liverpool, England, circa 1800. I am a sucker for bold graphics so you can understand why I like this mug so much. It is covered with black transfer decoration of Masonic symbols and stands 5 inches high, with an opening of 3-1/2 inches.
What makes this early mug so special to me is the sturdy silver replacement handle. Although unmarked, it appears to have been made by a silversmith in the early 20th century. An elaborate silver mounting system was devised to hold the new handle in place by mounting it to a broad plate and attaching it to a rim and base. The choice to mount the replacement handle, as opposed to drill through the body and bolt on a new handle, may have saved the mug from possible leakage and more damage. Typically, I do not polish metal repairs, as I feel the darkened patina adds to the overall appearance of the piece. I like how the tarnished silver is close to the color of the printed decoration, enhancing this clever repair even more.
This mug with the same form and decoration shows what my mug would have looked like with its original handle intact.
Photo courtesy of Bramfords
This small porcelain baluster shaped coffee pot with spreading foot was made in England by Worcester during the scratch cross period (1753-1755). It is decorated with Chinese figures, a parrot on a stand, furniture, and tea set; my favorite detail. Decorated in England, it copied the Mandarin style done by the Chinese, who themselves adapted European decoration for wares exported to North America and Europe. Marked on the underside with a scratch line and a painted anchor artist mark, this pot, minus its original lid, stands 5-3/4″ high.
Although the fragile and more apt to break “S” shaped handle with curled thumb rest remains intact, the original curved spout did not fare so well. A silversmith fashioned a fine silver spout with scalloped plate to replace the missing original. I have many examples of silver replacement spouts with the same form on pots in my collection, so I imagine this must have been a popular style used by silversmiths in the 18th and 19th century.
This is what a “perfect” example of the coffee pot and lid look like
Photo courtesy of Bonhams
This delicate English porcelain bone china cup and saucer each have a transfer decoration of butterflies and flowers with hand painted washes of color. The figural butterfly handle, though lovely to look at, makes for an unsteady grasp on a steaming hot cup of tea. Perhaps that’s how both the cup and the saucer met their early demise and ended up crashing to the floor, breaking into many pieces. But luckily a local china mender was standing by with drill and staples at hand, and able to join together the broken pieces. Six tiny brass staples were carefully attached, three on the cup and three on the saucer, allowing the tea to flow once more.
Marked on the underside of the cup, which measures 1-3/4″ high, is an English registry cypher, dating the piece to April 7, 1869. The saucer, with a diameter of 5-1/2″, has a faint impressed MINTON mark.
This simple creamware pottery mug with cylindrical form is decorated with a black transfer decoration of the Farmer’s Toast aka God Speed the Plough. It was made in England in the late 1700s-early 1800s and measures 4-3/4″ high. A tinsmith fashioned a sturdy replacement handle, attaching it to a metal band at the top and bolting it through the body at the bottom. I love the boldness of the dark printed decoration and patinated metal handle against the stark cream color of the mug.
Let the Wealthy & Great,
Roll in Splendor & State.
I envy them not I declare it.
I eat my own Lamb,
My own Chicken & Ham.
I shear my own Fleece & wear it.
I have Lawns I have Bowers,
I have fruits I have Flowers.
The lark is my morning alarmer.
So jolly Boys now,
Here’s God speed the Plough.
Long Life & Success to
The Farmer.
Although the black transfer decoration differs, the form is the same and shows what the simple loop handle would have looked like on my mug.
Photo courtesy of Martyn Edgell
In the world of collecting, nothing pleases me more than stumbling upon items with matching inventive repairs, and this set of footed breakfast cups and saucers deliver five times over. Made in England by Mason’s Ironstone from 1830 to 1840, these heavy porcelain cups, measuring nearly 3-1/4″ tall, have the transfer printed “Conversation” pattern in the rare yellow scale colorway. Each cup and saucer is marked in black transfer on the underside MASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA.
I purchased the set during my last trip to London from dealer Fergus Robert Downey who later told me that he has a sixth cup with an identical replaced handle, so I am hoping to one day have the complete sextet. I can’t imagine that all of the original handles snapped off the cups at the same time, unless a particular breakfast got a bit too rowdy. More likely, one or two handles might have broken off, so in order to keep the set looking uniform, the remaining intact handles were removed and all cups were fitted with the same metal replacement. The metalsmith did a fine job, as all of the handles are well matched and expertly riveted to the cups.
Now about that sixth cup, Fergus… 
This cup, in perfect condition, shows what the original handles on my cups would have looked like before they took a tumble.
Photo courtesy of Vanbrugh West Antiques
This handsome Castleford-style teapot with neoclassical design was made in England in the early 1800s. It is made of fine-grained unglazed black basalt stoneware with a hinged lid set in a scalloped rim and fastened with a metal pin. It measures 5-1/2″ tall and 8-3/4″ from handle to spout. Two different classical tableaux in detailed relief are on each paneled side, with acanthus leaves at the top and the bottom.
When this teapot was dropped over 150 years ago, the spout broke in two places and the knob came undone. Typically, fragile lids on teapots with this design snap off so I am surprised that this lid remains intact. A 19th century tinker repaired all of the broken bits by attaching two metal sleeves around the breaks in the spout and riveted on a new metal replacement knob. The metal repairs were originally painted black to blend in with the black basalt color of the pot, but time and age have peeled away the paint, leaving a pleasing patina to the metal. There is a later putty repair to a crack on the underside which is useless now, but I imagine it served its purpose at the time it was applied.
This example with nearly the same form, shows what the original spout and knob would have looked like on my teapot.
Photo courtesy of D. G. Barsby Antiques
This high quality porcelain dish was made in Worcester, England, by manufacturers Flight & Barr. It is decorated with a wide Gothic influenced geometric border in gilt and burnt orange enamel. It measures 11-1/4″ by 7-7/8″ and dates to early 19th century. The underside has a beautifully hand painted mark in puce which reads “Flight & Barr, Worcester, Manufactures to Their Majesties,” as well as a small crown and an incised letter B.
After the dish was dropped and brought to a china mender for restoration, 31 brass staples were attached to make the dish complete and usable once again. The eight holes in-between the six staples at one end indicate that an earlier repair was made to the dish, but apparently they were removed. The second restoration, executed well over 100 years ago, was a success and the sturdy dish was most likely put back in service for use at the dinner table. But I would rather just admire it for the beauty and ingenuity of the repair and display it wrong side up.
I purchased this first period bell-shaped Worcester porcelain mug from a dealer in the UK who has been feeding my compulsive desire for antiques with inventive repairs for many years. It has a black transfer print of Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia, along with military trophies, an angel blowing a trumpet, and a putto with a wreath. It is dated 1757 under his left arm and marked RH (for Robert Hancock) Worester and an anchor mark for Richard Holdship (a rebus for his last name.) The decoration was taken from Richard Houston’s engraving after a painting by Antoine Pesne.
This is one of those items that if I saw one in a shop in “perfect” condition, I would secretly wish it had an early repair, as I am drawn to strong graphic images on ceramics. Luckily for me, this one has a metal replacement handle, attached by a metalsmith after the original loop handle broke off, as well as two metal staples to help stabilize a crack.
During my recent visit to the UK, I spotted the same transfer decoration on numerous pieces of ceramics included in many different museum collections. This jug can be found in the fabulous ceramics collection at the V&A.
This mug, with similar form, decoration, and its original handle intact, shows what the handle on my mug looked like before it snapped off.
Photo courtesy of Stockspring Antiques
