Featured Copeland Spode - White Star plates

Discussion in 'Pottery, Glass, and Porcelain' started by Biju, Feb 4, 2024.

  1. Biju

    Biju Well-Known Member

    Hello Everyone,
    I acquired this beautiful set of plates by Copeland Spode pattern 1/9608.
    This luxury pattern was used by the White Star line for ships like Titanic and others.
    Additionally, each plate is adorned with a crest of a bee with a monogram and a slogan within a ribbon, “Fais ce que dois advienne que pourra," translated from French: “do your duty, and what will be will be."
    Can anyone tell whose crest it is and if these were used by the White Star line? I captured all the marks in the back, including the manufacturer, retailer and the little star. The letters within the bee are "S" and looks like an "I."
    Thank you so much!
    Biju
    thumbnail_IMG_3478.jpg thumbnail_IMG_3480.jpg thumbnail_IMG_3476.jpg thumbnail_IMG_3477.jpg
     
  2. bosko69

    bosko69 Well-Known Member

    Beautiful pattern.
     
    Biju likes this.
  3. bluumz

    bluumz Quite Busy

    Beautiful plates!

    The motto is usually translated as "do what you must, come what may".
    I agree that the initials appear to be SI or IS... ?something? Institute?... just guessing!

    The bee, a popular French symbol, along with the French motto makes it seem unlikely that the plates were produced for a British shipping line.
    And would a shipping line purchase from a retailer like Osler rather than purchasing directly from a manufacturer?
    THIS Spode History page says "Supplying shipping lines was a significant part of business for Spode, particularly under the Copelands" so I'd think WSL would have purchased directly from them, especially considering the amount of ware they'd need, and not from a retailer.
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2024
    Biju and ola402 like this.
  4. bercrystal

    bercrystal Well-Known Member

    @kyratango - I know this is not your usual spot of interest, but does anything in the description ring a bell to you? :happy::happy:
     
    kyratango likes this.
  5. Debora

    Debora Well-Known Member

    Other pattern pieces without customization.

    Debora

    s-l1600.jpg
     
    kyratango, Biju, ola402 and 1 other person like this.
  6. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    The bee is a napoleonic symbol too.
     
    bercrystal and Biju like this.
  7. kyratango

    kyratango Bug jewellery addiction!

    Aside the beeeee.... it doesn’t ring any bell....
    I searched for the origin of the motto, it was associated to the ducal family Perusse des Cars, but nothing about the letters in the bee:(
     
    bercrystal, Any Jewelry and Biju like this.
  8. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    It is thought that the bee was a symbol of royalty among the Merovingian Franks, a Western Germanic people.
    France is named after the Franks.

    About 300 gold bees were found in the tomb of Childeric, 5th century king of the Franks. The tomb was discovered in Tournai, the old Frankish capital.
    Tournai is in present day Belgium, at the time it was part of the Habsburg Netherlands, but in the late 18th century it was annexed by the French.

    Napoleon thought the Frankish bees from Tournai, now French, an appropriate symbol for his coronation. The bees were a reference to historic kingship that was not connected to the royal families of the Kingdom of France. So he used the bees as a symbol of historic royal legitimacy.;)
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2024
    bercrystal, kentworld and Biju like this.
  9. bosko69

    bosko69 Well-Known Member

  10. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Those are Frankish bees, but as far as I know the ones from Childeric's tomb weren't inlaid with garnet?

    The Franks knew a thing or two about goldsmithing and inlay.;) The garnets the Franks used came all the way from India.
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2024
    bercrystal and Biju like this.
  11. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Ah, I was wrong, those are indeed Childeric's last two bees, and the fittings of his sword. The other bees, along with most of the other contents of the tomb, were stolen and never found again.:arghh:
    The photo on the right shows replicas of the 'hoard'.
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2024
    bercrystal likes this.
  12. bosko69

    bosko69 Well-Known Member

    Stolen,damned tragic :eek:
     
  13. Biju

    Biju Well-Known Member

    Any thoughts on what the star back stamp on the bottom below Copelands might indicate? The outline is in green, as the Copelands mark. Also, any suggestions on how to determine whose crest the bee with the monogram is?
    TIA
     
Draft saved Draft deleted
Similar Threads: Copeland Spode
Forum Title Date
Pottery, Glass, and Porcelain Copeland Spodes Byron plate anyone have insights into this item Oct 27, 2022
Pottery, Glass, and Porcelain Dating for Copeland Spode Plate Oct 14, 2022
Pottery, Glass, and Porcelain Copeland Spode Gilt Dish with Silver Stand Jun 18, 2021
Pottery, Glass, and Porcelain Copeland Spode teapot, how old is it please. Feb 15, 2020
Pottery, Glass, and Porcelain Set of Copeland Spode Oct 30, 2019

Share This Page