Pattern Profile: Currier & Ives Collection (198?)

In the early 1980s a selection of four decorative Corelle plates were offered with reproductions of Currier & Ives prints.  It was called the Corning Currier & Ives Collection and the decorations represented the four seasons.  The plates in this series are dinner plate sized in the narrow rimmed shape from Dimension IV, with a white background.  They seem to have been sold individually rather than as a set.  These plates are undated, which means it is difficult to say when they were introduced, but sometime between 1980 and 1982 might be a reasonable assumption.

The original packaging states:  "The Corning Currier and Ives Collection has been designed and manufactured to provide quality reproductions of many of the most cherished scenes of the 19th century life in America.  We hope you will enjoy these decorative additions to your home for many years to come.  From Corning with love."  The plates were named as follows: 
Winter - Sleigh Ride
Spring - Blossom Time
Summer - Horse and Wagon
Autumn - Apple Harvest.

The designs are derived from authentic Currier & Ives artwork first published in 1868 & 1869.  The original lithographs were known as the American Homestead series and individually they are named "American Homestead Spring", "American Homestead Summer", etc.  The decorations on the Corelle plates are small samples from the original scenes, and for some reason, all of them are mirrored left to right. 

Christmas:

There are other Currier & Ives decorative plates, and most are Christmas collectibles with winter themes.  These include dated plates from 1980 to 1984, plus there are some undated ones which might be from the late 1970s.  Some indicate on the back that either 2000, 3000, or 5000 were issued, but others say only "Limited Edition".

1980 Christmas plates with the same scene, one has a coloured band.

The undated plates and those from 1980 use a coupe plate style in white, and some are similar in appearance to the Expressions line, with one or two coloured bands circling the rim.  Others do not have coloured bands at all, so there seems to be a lot of variance in the decoration of these early Christmas plates.  
              
Of the undated ones, only two of the scenes have been identified so far: "Central Park in Winter" and "Winter Pastime" (1855).  There are two Corelle versions of "Winter Pastime"; one is a closely cropped scene, and the other is a wider view with colours varying significantly from those of the original print.  There are at least four other undated Christmas plates with unidentified artwork.

(Photo: detail of 1980 plate)

For 1980 there are two known designs, but the names of the original prints are unknown.  One of the 1980 designs is shown above; the other one says "Merry Christmas" and illustrates a team of four horses pulling a red sleigh.
                    
The 1981 Christmas plate is white with a narrow rimmed shape, and it depicts "The Ingleside Winter".  The coloured bands and plate style match those of the four season Currier & Ives Collection. 

(Photo: 1981 Christmas plate.)

The 1982 plate also is linked to the four season series, since it takes its design from "American
Homestead Winter", as Winter - Sleigh Ride does, and it is mirrored as well.  Unexpectedly the two are not identical, since the 1982 Christmas plate uses a slightly smaller sample of the original picture.  The colour of the artwork on this plate can vary as well, with one version in blue-grey tones and the other in more natural shades of brown.

(Photo: 1982, beige CornerStone shape.  This plate has the regular Corelle thickness instead of the extra CornerStone thickness.)

There are two plate styles for 1982, the white narrow rimmed shape and beige CornerStone shape.  It is particularly interesting that a CornerStone plate be dated 1982, since that product line was not unveiled until March 1983.  The blue-grey version might have been made only with a white background, but the brown-toned design appears on both white and beige plates.  Although the white plates from 1982 share the same style as the four season series, the coloured bands are different this time.
               
The plate for 1983 depicts "An English Winter Scene" and it is a mirror image of the original lithograph.  This one can be found on either a beige CornerStone plate or a white narrow rimmed plate.  The white version matches the four season set, with the same plate style and coloured bands.

(Photo: 1983, beige CornerStone shape.)

The 1984 Christmas plate is taken from "The Farmers Home - Winter".  So far only beige CornerStone examples have been seen.

(Photo: 1984 Christmas plate.)

Rino Mercadante was responsible for adapting the Currier & Ives scenes for the four season series and the 1981 to 1984 plates.  This artist is most notable for creating many restaurant ware patterns for Corning in the 1960s & 1970s, as well as the original designs for the 1985 to 1989 Christmas plates.

Since 1985 the decorations for the annual Christmas plates have diverged from authentic Currier & Ives motifs to other colourful patterns.  Although those from the late 1980s are reminiscent of Currier & Ives with richly detailed old-fashioned scenes, they are new artwork instead.

(Photo: 1987 Christmas Plate.)

The Autumn - Apple Harvest decoration on a beige CornerStone plate.

Exceptions:

There is one more Currier & Ives plate connected to the four season series, and it seems that it was produced specially for a Corning staff event.  One example has appeared with its original label, which reads: "1985 Sullivan Park R&D Recognition Luncheon."  Sullivan Park is Corning's research centre.

The decoration of this plate is identical to Autumn - Apple Harvest, from "American Homestead Autumn", but the plate is the beige CornerStone type instead.  A disproportionate number of these plates have appeared with no sightings of the other three seasons, so this plate must be a singleton rather than part of a series. 

For photos of original Currier & Ives lithographs, visit the following pages:

American Homestead series - Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn.
Central Park In Winter, Winter Pastime (1855), The Ingleside Winter,
An English Winter Scene, The Farmers Home - Winter.

Visit Replacements Ltd. for photos of various Corelle Currier & Ives plates:  Winter Pastime (1855), Winter, Spring, Summer from four season series.

Sources:

The following websites were particularly helpful in identifying the original prints:

Currier & Ives Gallery
Currier & Ives Online Gallery
 

Related Articles:

Plate Styles: Coupe, Narrow Rimmed, CornerStone.
Who designed the patterns?