We have already alluded to the impressed mark =Spode= or SPODE. On some of the finer pieces the name is painted in red, and sometimes it is written in gold, as in our third mark in an angular hand, running upwards. The stamped mark usually in red, “Spode’s New Fayence” and “Spode Stone China,” appears on the ironstone ware. Oftentimes the mark is not stamped on the middle of the plate underneath, but at the side, while sometimes the name is both stamped and impressed. Besides the marks we give there are more than half a dozen other forms used by the factory, but all of them containing the word “Spode,” and therefore not presenting difficulties to the collector. [Illustration: SOME SPODE MARKS.] Of three marked Spode plates in possession of the writer, of typical Spode decoration, which was largely influenced by Japanese art, we give two as a headpiece. It will be observed that the left-hand plate in the headpiece, which has a vivid blue background, is fretted with a geometric pattern as a design. This is intended to represent ice, and the may-flowers of the covering decoration are intended to convey, by the Chinese artist who invented it, the symbolic meaning of young love being chilled by adversity. The other plate in the same illustration is of a brilliant canary-coloured ground, covered with a gossamer-like network of cobwebs, above which bird and flowers are painted. The third plate shows very strongly the influence of the East in its method of decoration; but instead of pagoda and delicate curves, the English artist has almost brutally placed a piece of European architecture on the other half of the plate, which by its incongruity mars the remainder. [Illustration: SPODE PLATE. (Decorated in blue and red and gold.) _In the Collection of the Author._] We must turn aside from Spode, and introduce our readers to his successors, the Copelands. One word in passing. Those who have specimens of Spode ware will do well to remember that his was a great factory, not so well known as Derby and Worcester, but a formidable rival of theirs. Not many months ago at Christie’s a pair of Spode vases, square shaped, decorated with landscapes, birds and flowers in the Chinese style, forty-two inches, brought £21. [Illustration: MARKS OF MESSRS. COPELAND.] The list of marks used by Messrs. Copeland will show at a glance the changes in the title of the firm. In 1833 the firm became Copeland, late Spode, and the china was marked accordingly. There are a good many other marks besides those we give, but all are more or less similar, with slight variation to those we produce. A word of explanation is necessary as to the mark “C. and G.” This is frequently accompanied by the words, “New Blanche,” “Royal Opal,” “Saxon Blue,” or “New Japan Stone,” according to the composition or decoration of the ware. [Illustration: SPODE WILLOW PATTERN PLATES. _By courtesy of Messrs. W. T. Copeland & Sons._]