Description

Barker Bros Fruit Bowl and Dessert Bowls Set

This set comprises 1 fruit bowl and 5 dessert bowls in the same pattern. The pattern is called Fairyland and was made by the Potteries based company Barker Bros probably in the 1950s.

To my mind the pattern with its pagoda style building and oriental bridge bears a resemblance to the gardens at Biddulph Grange which is just to the north of Stoke-on-Trent and which contains a Chinese Garden which was designed in 1862  by James Bateman and may have been familiar to many people who worked in the Potteries. Of course the influence of chinoiserie has a much longer tradition in ceramics but there is something in the combination of bridges and trees in the patern shown here that reminds me of the Staffordshire garden.

Originally there would have been 6 dessert bowls in this set as well as the larger fruit bowl but sadly one has gone missing at some point.

There is also inconsistency over the backstamps on these bowls. The large bowl and three of the smaller bowls all bear the Barker Bros stamp and two of the smaller bowls also bear the text Fairyland printed over the Barker Bros logo, a further two of the bowls have no stamp on them at all. The main pattern is transfer printed and the bright orange rim to the bowls has then been aplied by hand.

All of the bowls are in good condition with no chips or cracks.

Measurements

Fruit bowl: diameter: 21cm, height: 5.3cm
Dessert bowls: diameter: 14.6cm, height: 3.5cm