“Bottle Ovens” Bat Printed Cup Plate

This charming scene showing several bottle ovens at a historic pottery, like the hundreds that once existed in Staffordshire, England, isn’t exactly what it appears to be. It looks very much like a piece of bat-printed porcelain or earthenware made at one of those potteries in the first decades of the 19th century. In fact, the design was engraved on a copper plate and bat printed by Paul Holdway in Staffordshire in 1991, as marked on the back. It was one of the many wonderful items from the collection of Jonathan Gray, seen during our visit to his London home during the TCC’s England Tour in June. While it may be the newest item in his collection, it could also be among the rarest. There were very few bat printed pieces made during the late 20th century!

Such views were produced in the early 19th century. A bat printed porcelain tea cup showing two smoking bottle ovens and a pottery building on a small bluff above a body of water is pattern No. 22146 in the TCC Database of Patterns and Sources. It was produced by the New Hall Pottery, which was in operation from 1782 until 1835 in Shelton, Staffordshire. This pattern has the TCC assigned name “Bottle Ovens.” Thanks to both Paul Holdway and Jonathan Gray for welcoming us to the UK and being part of our tour!