Just a small part of the overall naval china dinnerware and tableware collection. Photo shows on the wall various pre and post 1907 designs of 19th and early 20th century British Royal Navy Mess Plates, Mess Bowls, and Copper Rum Cups or Measures.
Mess Plates with a Mess No on them were used used pre-1907 when the British Navy had individual "berthing" messes for its enlisted sailors. Mess Plates without an assigned Mess No are typically post-1907 when the British Navy discontinued its "berthing mess" manner of feeding its sailors and went to a generalized mess
The collection of British Royal Navy Mess Plates consists of 8 pre-1907 plates in the "Young Head" design with two distinct patterns: Royal Crown Centerpiece and Cross Flags as the Centerpiece - the largest Mess No we have had is 54. The "Young Head" designs have varying levels of quality and craftsmanship, and all employ the transfer decal method of applying the various scenes onto the plates, with the actual Mess No itself hand painted or glazed. Many but not all of these "Young Head" patterned plates were made by the "Bovey Pottery Company, Ltd".
We also have 3 very rare, quite detailed, and handsomely beautiful pre-1907 Mess Plates adorned with 4 separate naval scenes around the edge, semi-gothic design, and chain, along with a centerpiece consisting of a banner stating "Royal Navy" along with a wooden man-of-war crossed British naval ensigns and flags, flowers, roses, an anchor and the Mess No. The manufacturers backstamp is a banner on the rear of the plate and reads "Fletcher & Miller, Butcher at Portsea". We have not yet seen any of these patterned plates with any other backstamp other than with "Fletcher & Miller". The craftsmanship and detail on this transfer decal pattern of Mess Plate is incredible, and the actual pottery manufacturer that made these is currently unknown. One of the three plates is shown in the above left photo next to the picture.
Another pattern of Royal Navy Mess Plate made specifically for the Royal Navy's Barracks at Portsmouth. We are presuming this plate to be pre-1907 since it identified with Mess No 77.
Of interesting note is that the badge or insiginia used (though blurry from the original glazing and firing) is relatively simple in design and adorned not with a Royal Crown but with the British navy's "Admiralty Crown" first established in the 1600s and consisting of your jewels and what-have-you along the band, but on top is the rear of a wooden ship-of-the-line in the middle with two square rigged sails to the left and right of it, and a half-ship on the left and right sides of the respective sails. Supposedly this has something to do with the defeat of a Spanish armada by an inferior British fleet.
Above is an early Post-1907 Royal Navy Mess Plate originally found in Tasmania, Australia, supposedly found by a diver in some bay that was used by the British Navy during the early 20th century, and was produced by "The Globe Pottery Company of Cobridge England" ca 1923-1928. Note the use of the Admiralty instead of a Royal Crown and their is no identifying Mess No because at the time of production the British Navy had already gone to the generalized mess instead of the older berthing mess.
Above is our collection of pre and post-1907 British Royal Navy Mess Bowls, 2 in the Young Head design Mess Nos 54, 10, 19 and 58.
Another pre-1907 Mess Bowl is simple in design consisting Mess No 18 within a circle.
And the last Mess Bowl is post-1907 production and use with a very simple fouled anchor insiginia ca 1907-1916, this simple fouled anchor insignia was discontinued in 1926. This Mess Bowl was supposedly found in the 1960s on a beach after a storm off Felixstowe and the Cutler Shoal in the UK. It certainly shows decades of submersion in water and staining from mud and aquatic life.
Above are two photos of our small but growing collection of Royal Navy 19th/20th century copper rum measures (rum cups), two post-WWII ceramic rum demijohns encased in protective wicker and a rum fannie or mess bucket of which we have two.
We currently have 3 one quart, 2 one pint, 2 halt pint, 1 one gill and 2 half-gill measures with both Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian royal ciphers. We will be looking to get at least 1 one gallon, 1 half gallon and 1 1.5 gill measures to complete our copper measure or rum cup collection.
We are looking to slowly add to our collection of copper rum measures as well as the rum/grog funnels, a copper pump used to dispense the rum or grog and a hard-to-find wooden mixing tub, "God Save The Queen"! Here is a link dedicated just to our Royal Navy photographic identification and analysis of 19th and 20th Copper Grog/Rum Cups and Measures, demijohns, pumps, etc Click Here.
Above is a small sampling of our 19th century collection of British, American, Dutch, French, Scandinavian Sea Service edged weapons consisting of Boarding Pikes, Boarding Axes and Cutlasses - All properly marked with manufacturers, aresenal and/or royal ciphers.
Photo to the right shows a small sampling of other antique and vintage Naval Dinnerware Plates from various navies of the world from about the 1830s to 1960's.
Above is a sampling of our collection of antique and vintage Serving Platters, Dishes and Bowls from various navies of the world, ca 1860's to 1960s. Here is a link dedicated just to our naval platters, Click Here.
Above are a ceramic or porcelain clean water pitcher to the left and a spittoon or slop jar to the right used to hold discarded water, ca 1860s to 1890s. This is what is called "hygieneware" and was used aboard ship in Officers staterooms prior to plumbing. This plain initialed "U.S.N." was one of two standard insiginias used.
To the left is a collection of soap dishes, water tumblers, and a sink all badged with the plain USN initials and clearly part of a standardized complement of hygieneware, this type of basin was found among the items recovered from the USS Monitor. To the right is a straight razor made in England for the U.S. Navy and personalized with a sailors name.
Above is another US Navy spittoon with a more stylistic design of the initials "USN" superimposed on each other. This was the second of two patterns of insignia used on US Navy hygieneware ca 1860s to 1890s
Above are a soap dish and two water tumblers, one for hygieneware and the second for use during dinner. Note that the two hygieneware tumblers have flared top edges which we believe indicates that they were put into a metal hangar of sorts similar to the soap dishes so that they would be readily available yet not prone to being broken by the toss and pitch aboard ship.
This particular stylistic insignia has been found on a complete dinnerware set ca 1860s Civil War era.
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