The world we like

This blog is not just about describing the next books published by our publishing house. That would be boring in the long run. It is rather dedicated to things we like to use in our work, or simply surround ourselves with.

One of them is undoubtedly the ceramics from the English company Spode. Especially the famous pattern called Blue Italian. It was introduced into production in 1816 and, with short breaks, it has been produced to this day. It quickly became one of the most recognizable products of the factory from the British Stoke-on-Trent, reaching the tables of the elite from the Regency and George IV times. However, like the products from the factory of the great competitor, Wedgwood, Blue Italian quickly became democratized, without losing any of its quality.

Charles III with a Spode cup. Photo: Internet

The very concept of Blue Italian comes from an image of a conventional Italian landscape, a motif very popular during the Grand Tour, or expedition to Italy. Unfortunately, it is not known who created it or what exactly it depicts. It has been suggested that it was taken from the numerous views of Rome created by James Merigot, who lived in London, or Jacques Mérigot, a French engraver who lived between 1760 and 1824. In the late 1790s, Merigot published a popular book of the time, A select collection of views and ruins in Rome and its vicinity (published in two parts in 1797 and 1799). The prints in the book were used in Spode's pottery from the Rome and Luciano series.

Photo: Spode

The problem is that although Spode used Merigot's image, none of them exactly corresponds to what we see on the Blue Italian pottery. Experts believe that there is simply no such place in Italy. It is assumed that the visible ruins are a not very precisely depicted Great Bath in Tivoli. In turn, the houses are supposed to be similar to those located in Lazio, north of Rome. Finally, the castle is similar to those located in Lombardy or Piedmont. It is therefore assumed that this is a cluster of drawings, by an unknown traveller, depicting in fact different places in Italy. Although in 1989 the official Spode Museum purchased a 17th-century pencil drawing depicting a scene that could have inspired Spode's design.

Roger Scruton. Still from the film "On Beauty"

In addition, while the image itself is undoubtedly European, it is illustrated with ornaments taken from copies of traditional Chinese pottery, produced by Spode since the company's inception. Whatever exactly Blue Italian represents, it is certain that the series has been a huge commercial success, as evidenced by the fact that it has remained in production for over 200 years.

And it fits Rambler's books like a glove.