Story by Karen Parr-Moody
Many pulses race on Sunday nights, when the English period drama “Downton Abbey” splashes across TV screens with Edwardian opulence. Its fourth season premiere, on Jan. 5, was the highest-rated drama premiere in PBS history.
It matters not that relations between the servants and the aristocratic Grantham family wouldn’t have been so democratic in a real manor home of the early 1900s. And who cares that a real-life aristocrat would not likely have popped off as many Oscar Wildean quips as the Dowager Countess of Grantham? These are mere trivialities in this tale of aristocratic romance and woe.
Then there is the scenery: A four-level manor home decorated with centuries-old heirlooms. Watching the show is a visual scavenger hunt for antique lovers.
As a collector of Victorian antiques, I have spotted many period pieces on this show. Twice I have seen Staffordshire pottery spaniels. The first time was during a carnival scene; one of these dogs was a prize in a game of ring toss. The second time I spotted a pair of the dogs, during this season’s premiere, on a table in the home of Joseph Molesley, the former butler of Crawley House.
Staffordshire pottery spaniels emerged from the kilns of Staffordshire County, England, in the mid-1800s and were produced until the early 1900s, which is why they are at home on the “Downton Abbey” set. During the reign of Queen Victoria, it was the fashion for middle class families to place them on their mantels (which is why they are not seen in the Granthams’ home, but rather in more common settings).
Today, Staffordshire dogs are collectible; a genuine pair – and there are many fakes – can easily run from $200 and higher.
During this season’s premiere episode, Minoa Uffelman, an Austin Peay State University associate professor of history, spotted familiar teacups in the hands of Lady Edith and her beau, editor Michael Gregson. She owns the pattern.
“When I saw the tea cups on the episode, I paused and reran it,” Uffelman said. “The shape is different from my cups, so I Googled it to see if it comes in that shape and it did.”
The actors drank out of demitasse cups from the china pattern Colonnade Black, which was introduced by the English manufacturer Wedgwood around 1900, according to Wedgwood Museum’s website. By 1903 it was brought to the White House for Theodore Roosevelt’s administration. (At that time, the pattern was known as Ulander; it wasn’t called Colonnade until circa 1960.)
As a historian, does Uffelman feel like the Wedgwood pattern was period appropriate for an editor’s home of the 1920s? Absolutely.
“A successful Brit would have bought Wedgwood because it was one of best china manufacturers in the world,” she said.
As for other viewers of “Downton Abbey,” keep watching. Among the silk wall coverings, marble sculptures and the like, you might find a treasure that you recognize, too.
Local historian Minoa Uffelman spotted a pair of Wedgwood demitasse cups in the premiere episode of “Downton Abbey.”
I recently bought a small Staffordshire spaniel and pup combination here at Pedigo’s Madison Street Antiques, 1461 Madison Street.
Karen Parr-Moody began a career as a New York journalist, working as a fashion reporter for Women’s Wear Daily, a beauty editor for Young Miss and a beauty and fashion writer for both In Style and People magazines. Regionally, she has been a writer at The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper and currently writes about arts and culture for Nashville Arts magazine each month.