Description:
A Royal Doulton tray, illustrated from Charles Crombie's famous Rules of Golf book. Golf theme dinnerware. The tray reads All fools are not knaves, but all knaves are fools.

Material:
Earthenware

Maker/Artist:
Royal Doulton

Date:
Circa 1910

Provenance:
n/a

Size of Artwork:
H. 9 x W. 6.5 x D. 7 in

Weight (LBS)
.27

Condition:
In good condition

History:
The pieces were comprised of basic cream-colored pottery stock which was then decorated with transfers and hand-tinted in various themes, one of which was golf. Charles Crombie’s “Rules of Golf” were part of six different golf-focused Series Ware produced by Royal Doulton. Others included Proverb Plates (rack plates with floral or grapevine borders with one of seven proverbs surrounding golfers), Gibson Ware (“The Gibson Girl” created by American illustrator Charles Dana Gibson featured eight quotes on small decorative ceramic pieces), Bateman Ware (featured humorous scenes of Henry Mayo Bateman), Diversions of Uncle Toby (Uncle Toby was a character in Laurence Stern’s novel, Tristam Shandy), and The Nineteenth Hole (this series depicted a scene of two golfers enjoying a post-round drink with a view of a golf course in the background). The “Rules of Golf” ceramic series was produced between 1909 and 1932, and could be purchased as complete place settings, serving dishes, platters, jugs, vases, punch bowls, coffee/tea service, candlesticks and ashtrays. The humorous images featured five proverbs combined with eight different groups of characters, including illustrations of golfers with and without caddies. Each piece featured one of the following proverbs, in capital letters: •“Give losers leave to speak and winners to laugh.” •“He that always complains is never pitied.” •“All fools are not knaves but all knaves are fools.” •“He hath good judgment who relieth not wholly on his own.” •“Every dog has his day and every man his hour.” The decorative images were applied to the blank or unglazed bisque ceramic piece via the “print and tint” transfer ware method. The process began with the image getting engraved into a copper plate. A loose liquid glaze was rolled on the copper plate and applied to print the image on tissue paper. The tissue paper containing the glaze was adhered to the ceramic piece to transfer the image. The item was fired in a kiln at low temperature to permanently adhere the image to the ceramic. Once cooled, a worker hand-painted the colorful glazes to the piece and then applied a final clear glaze finish. Some of the larger decorative items, such as vases, have gold or silver gilding on the handles. A final firing in the kiln completed the process. By the mid-1930s, partly due to the onset of World War II, the production of golf ceramics had stopped. The USGA Museum has a selection of both Charles Crombie’s “A Series of Mishaps” second-edition lithographs and Royal Doulton's “Rules of Golf” Series Ware in its collection. The ceramics represent the progression and public appeal of golf-related decorative items for commercial and domestic use as the game gained popularity. Today , Charles Crombie’s lithographs and ceramics pieces are highly sought after by individuals who acquire golf-related collectibles.