One of the most fun and frustrating tasks in being a vintage seller is finding something interesting and aesthetically fabulous and trying to find out what exactly it is. The internet has made this task so much easier, but information doesn't always materialize as easily as one would hope. Hence the sleuthing.The story you are about to read is true. The names have not been changed. Really, why would they need to be.
OBJECT: five plates with "Drink Scott's Fresh Roasted Coffees Boston" stamped in gold
CLUES: Scott's Coffee, pottery backstamp from Stanley Pottery Co.
FACTS:
- Wm Scott's Sons & Co. was an importer of green coffee in New York city during the boom of the export era. Not a big player, but a player.
- Stanley Pottery Co. is one of the many Burlsem, England potteries, operating from 1909 to 1937. Their main claim to fame was flow blue. And the majority of wares were exported to the US.
- Plates have two poppy designs in the middle. Four of the plates have scalloped edges, one does not.
CONCLUSIONS: This stack of five plates was likely a premium for purchasing Scott's coffee, probably from in the 1920s, acquired over time which accounts for the difference in design.