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Glasgow Pottery - John Moses & Co.

Mercer Pottery

O.P.Co. – Syracuse China




Bloomfield Industries
Corning Glass Works

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Blue Willow Double Mystery!

Both bowls in the photo below are the same size and have the same backstamp, belonging to James M. Shaw & Co., New York. Shaw was a known distributor for Buffalo, Maddock, McNicol, Scammell and Warwick china companies. The company was sold to Nathan Straus in 1936, and the backstamp mark was "registered to James Shaw in 1928 for use since 1907," according to "Restaurant China Volume 2."

This mark would date these bowls between 1907 and 1928.

Scammell and Buffalo were known suppliers of bowls for the application of flip-top lids, so either one of these would be likely candidates as manufacturers. What is interesting is that the decals on both bowls are not the same, and not just because one is so much lighter than the other. There are subtle differences throughout the design that would indicate a different Blue Willow pattern on both. However, most china companies purchased their decals from one or more suppliers, so the difference in design offers no added information.

That said, unique among the Blue Willow flips I've seen (or any flips, for that matter), both bowls do have an additional design on the inside, up high near the rim. It is a border pattern seen on Blue Willow plates, for example, that is very similar but again, not identical to each other.

Lid manufacturer for the flip on the right is Utilities Specialties.

The elephant in the room, of course, is the bowl on the left: not a flip! It is the first time I've ever seen a lid like this that spins in a 180-degree arc to allow access to the contents. (See photos below.) I could find no maker's mark on this bowl's lid, but it does seem to be electroplated nickel silver, as it arrived in sad shape and cleaned up very nicely with silver polish. The same can't be said for most flips' lids.

If any site visitors ever see a bowl with a lid like this, please let me know. I'd love to find more!



 

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