soup ladle

White ladle with thick dark blue band on rim of ladle sandwiched by two lines of thin gold edging. Decorated with Willis house flag on the inside bowl (blue background, white diamond, red cross) and name "Cutty Sark" written underneath in a banner/ribbon. Thin gold line running vertical on handle from tip to middle with moulded decoration on tip of handle. No manufactures mark visable on underside of ladle, but is identical to other Cutty Sark crockery in collection.

China on-board ships dates from the 19th century to the present day. Shipping lines would have their own crockery sets made with the ships house flag or logo. Crockery had to be strong and hard-wearing to survive its life at sea, with most being made of ironstone china (heavy off white earthenware) with 1st class passengers using more expensive bone china. Most designs were not made for individual companies but re-used for other lines. Decoration usually consisted of a coloured band running around the rim with blue being the most popular colour of choice. (red and green were also used) As well as passenger liners, cargo and merchant vessels would also have their own crockery, mostly decorated in blue with the ship or company name/ house flag surrounded by a garter seal. Retailers of china and glassware like those of T. Hayward also held supplies back, so any requirement for new crockery for a voyage could be easily replenished. A number of potteries manufactured the china, John Maddock and sons for example, as well as supplying the Cutty Sark china, also supplied the White Star Line, Red Star Line and Furness Lines to name but a few, with a large majority of the manufacturers coming from the Stoke-on-Trent potteries.