Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/602

 496 NOTES AND QUERIES. [i2s.vm.juNEi8.io2i. PUSHKIN AND DANTE (12 S. viii. 411). 1 A. C. Noroff published a part of the third j canto of the * Inferno,' translated into ! Russian, in 1823 ; the prophecy of Dante's j banishment (' Paradise,' xvii.) in 1824; and | appeared in a different periodical. T. PERCY ARMSTRONG. Authors' Club, Whitehall Court, S.W. WILLOW PATTERN CHINA (12 S. vii. 169, 197, 219, 236, 356). The following notes) may, perhaps, be of interest. I am pre- ! paring a reprint of the story from The Family Friend, and in collecting informa- tion as to the design for the purpose of a preface the following has been the result so far: The origin of the design and the exact date of its general introduction as an article of commerce seem shrouded in doubt, and several claims are put forward as to its earliest adoption. By the courtesy of the Department of Ceramics at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the following information has been obtained : The willow pattern originated at the Caughley porcelain factory in Shropshire about 1780 and was soon widely distributed with very slight modifications throughout the porcelain and j earthenware factories of Staffordshire and other ! parts of England. It is merely an adaptation of the conventional river scene commonly met with on Chinese export J porcelain of the eighteenth century, but there are j so many of these in existence that it is impossible to point to any one individual landscape as the original Chinese prototype. The rather uninteresting synthetic theory of the origin of the design seems dubious, as the obvious course would have been to take a satisfactory pattern and adopt it in its entirety, with perhaps slight modifications or improvements. Perhaps one day a genuine Chinese example may be found which would contain a sufficient number of identical details to be regarded as the original ancestor of this very numerous progeny. The border seems to have been varied considerably to suit the various shapes of dishes and plates, and even of ladles. Two main forms, however, have been mostly in use, that called the " Spode " and the more artistic " mosquito " border. The former seems to have been the earlier, and was made by the celebrated Spode (established in 1770). His successors, Messrs. W. T. Copeland and Sons, of Stoke-on-Trent, claim that Spode was the first to put the willow pattern on dinner services, &c., and that he was the originator of the transfer printing for repeating the patterns on the various articles. The Spode border consists of irregular geometrical ornament of a purely conventional type, and resembling somewhat plans of fortifications. It also contains several circular ornaments some-, what resembling wheels. The mosquito border is more artistic, and is a combination of leaves, alternating with a few conventional gnats from which the name was suggested. There are several other designs which resemble the willow pattern sufficiently to be mistaken for it. They do not fill so satisfactorily the circular space, and do not have the pleasing effect of the genuine design. Of these one is called the " Man- darin " and another the " Canton " pattern. If any of your readers can give any further information or answer the following additional queries I shall be very grateful : By whom was the book of the comic opera ' The Willow Pattern Plate ' written ? The opera was produced at the Savoy Theatre about twenty years ago. Is an original Chinese pattern known to exist ? Does the design illustrate an existing Chinese story, or has the story been imagined from the details of the design ? ALEX. MORING. 10, Clifford Street, W.I. SERJEANTS-AT-LAW (12 S. vi. 334 ; vii. 37^ Qg). i^. RALPH THOMAS seems to suggest that Serjeant Pulling (1864) was the last one made. Two others were made in 1864 and several later. The last was the present Lord Lindley, who was made Serjeant May 12, 1875. C. A. COOK ^ CHURCH BUILDING AND PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSIONERS (12 S. viii. 450). These would be the Commissioners under the Acts for building and promoting additional churches in populous places. See 58 Geo. III. c. 45 ; 59 Geo. III. c. 134 ; 3 Geo. IV. c. 72 ; 5 Geo. IV. c. 103 ; and the Act of 1827 (7 and 8 Geo. IV. c. 72). A Society for this Eurpose, formed in 1818, was incorporated y an Act of July 15, 1828 (9 Geo. IV. c. 42). No doubt the powers of the Commissioners are now vested in the Ecclesiastical Commission. R. S. B.
 * Count Ugolin ' in 1825. Each fragment