It is spring! Although I feel like I have been cheating a bit by spending a week in Italy - but I know it's getting warmer and greener in Northern Europe as well and my garden is ready for the growing season, to be planted as soon as I will be back home. So this Easter weekend I have a beautiful dessert service from about 1814 that is perfect for a long, sweet Easter lunch.
This service is somewhat unusual. Made by Spode, more known for its transfer printed blue-and-white pearlware (of which I have several items too) and hard white porcelain, this one is made of creamware and decorated in an unusual avocado green colour with colourful Chinoiserie paintings. The colours of the images really pop on the soft green ground.
Chinoiserie decorations were still very popular in this era, as people had been used to Chinese import porcelain and for many people British porcelain was still a newfangled thing. Earthenware was also cheaper than porcelain, so this would have been a perfect service for someone who wouldn't have wanted to spend too much. As creamware is more delicate than porcelain, it is nothing less than amazing that this service has so many pieces left: a bread basket, a sauce tureen with cover and ladle, three dishes and eight plates. Have a look!