Posted 7 years ago
SpiritBear
(813 items)
Here is another recent thrift-store find. I thought it was circa 1880s when I saw it (the look of the porcelain, glaze, general characteristics of the mark, and the intensely aesthetic-period design), and research showed me that I was right (Could we expect anything less? Hah hah, just kidding).
The C. 1880-1885 label is my own, as I mark most items with, if nothing else, a date-range or 'circa date' (properly, 'circa' means 'around'. In my collection, it means, 'Earliest logical date' and an additional date is, of course, 'Latest logical date' for whatever reasons my research specifies.)
This Ridgways (England) plate is aptly named 'Budge', for the thrift-store wouldn't budge on its 5-dollar price (the highest I was going to pay for a rather dis-interesting design) as it had been donated from an antique store where it still had a 30-dollar tag on it!
Though I mostly prefer Edwardian, another period I love is the 1880s-- the dominant time of strong aesthetic design (though it was more prevalent in England). In short, 1870s-1890s aesthetic design incorporates nature (a carry-over of the romantic movement and interest in natural history of prior decades) and geometric (period-)modern design (an interest in the sciences and bold design of function over form-- the expectation of the future). While still holding onto the past, it was proudly proclaiming the future.
Today, it still holds a bold, modern (21st-century) design while retaining elements of the Victorian era (without being muddied by steam-punk elements). It's a fascinating, though fairly short-lived movement (most items I find from it date to the late 1870s and 1880s) though, in some ways, it still survives today (as people are trying to combine modern with natural once again).
Another example of Aesthetic design:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/242088-antique-gilbert-clock-with-spider