Photograph courtesy of Neiman Marcus
They are ivory, with a black border along scalloped rims, and feature 12 different scenes from St. Louis history—the cascades at the World’s Fair, the Old Courthouse, the Mississippi River and Eads Bridge. Jaccard’s commissioned them from Spode, England’s finest pottery house, then discontinued them in 1975. The backstamp reads MERMODS–JACCARD–KING JACCARD’S ST. LOUIS. There’s an artist’s signature above it, but it’s illegible. We can see that his first name is George, but auction and china-matching sites have alternately spelled his surname Mangulo, Manquolo, or Manquole. We’re not sure, either. We contacted Spode for information.
Antonietta Chieffo of Portmeirion Group USA in Waterbury, Conn., wrote back: “Unfortunately, we don’t have an archive facility for Spode products…we suggest you contact the Stoke-on-Trent City Museum, who do hold the Spode Museum archives. Alternatively, you may wish to contact a reputable auctioneer who specializes in china products.” After emailing the Stoke-on-Trent City Museum, we received a reply (after several email forwards, it appeared) from Loren Zeller, president of the Transferware Collectors Club. “Regrettably, due to the rather recent date of the plates you are investigating, I do not have any information for you,” he wrote. “The spodeceramics.com site is focused, as stated on the site, on the early Spode factory 1780–1833. Your plates appear to be late 20th century. Unfortunately, neither this exhibition site nor the Transferware Collectors Club would have information on such a late pattern…Perhaps you could try replacements.com/china listings on eBay.”
Thinking we were doing that one better, we called China Finders—based right here in St. Louis. But still no luck. “I don’t even know when they were made,” owner Larry Weitkemper told us (a little curtly, too). Finally, we talked to The Designing Block owner Susan Block, a longtime collector, She didn’t have any commentary on the George Mangulo/Manquolo mystery, but she knew a lot more than Spode did. Her mother had the whole set. “We’d use them when she didn’t want to use her finest china,” Ms. Block says. “My sister got married and moved to Michigan, and my mother gave them to her, so she wouldn’t forget St. Louis. I always wanted some, so that’s how I started collecting.” When she got married in 1976, she used credit from returning a few registry gifts to buy the last seven plates in Jaccard’s. Now she’s got more than one full set—including a gift from a wonderful friend who found a full set in its original box! “They’re not worth much,” Ms. Block says. “You can get them for maybe $20 or $35 apiece. But when I have a big buffet, I use them, and people always get a huge kick out of them.” So do we, even if we aren’t able to thank Mr. Mangulo/Manquolo himself. —Stefene Russell
UPDATE: After we went to press, we received an email from Liz Cooper, Archive Assistant at the Stoke on Tent City Archives. She writes: “Thank you for your recent email enquiry which was passed on to us from the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery. The set of 12 plates of St. Louis scenes was first produced in the late 1940s, and I have attached further details which you might find helpful. The original pattern book for these plates has been deposited with us by the Spode Museum Trust. Above each illustration of the pattern, the pattern number is recorded and the following description given: ‘Spode Imperial Gadroon plate. Scene printed in Black and fine line in Black under glaze. 1918 Black.’ There are examples of the back-stamps and the following note: ‘Stamped on back as comes off copper.’”
Here is the information from the pattern book—English spelling have not been Americanized:
Pattern no.: N274 - 285
Introduced: c1948
From the 1920s to the 1960s, many sets of plates, and individual plates, were commissioned by retailers, universities and societies with relevant scenes decorating the centres printed from hand-engraved copper plates. Often printed in black, sometimes several versions would be produced in different colours such as pink, blue, green and brown.
The St. Louis plates were first introduced in about 1948 with pattern numbers N274 - N285 and depict the following scenes:
N274 Festival Hall and Central Arcade. World's Fair St, Louis 1904 XII
N275 The Old Cathedral St. Louis 1840 I
N276 Second Presbyterian Church, St. Louis 1840 II
N277 Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis 1840 III
N 278 Henry Chouteau Mansion, St. Louis 1842 IV
N279 First Railroad Train West of the Mississippi 1852 V
N280 Race Track in Old St. Louis Fairgrounds 1859 VI
N281 OLD St. Louis Councilhouse 1863 VII
N282 Eads Bridge spans Mississippi, linking East and West St. Louis 1874 VIII
N283 The Mississippi River at St. Louis 1875 IX
N284 Robert E. Lee, Pride of the Missisippi1875 X
N285 The Veiled Prophets Parade passes Tony Faust's, St. Louis 1889 XI
These designs were after drawings by George Maquolo and the plates printed in black were commissioned and sold through the retailers Mermod Jaccard King.
