Four Children’s Toy Plates, pearl-glazed earthenware, Staffordshire, circa 1840
These toy plates would have formed part of a child’s pottery tea service. Each plate is transfer-printed in red with charming pastoral scenes, including a boy shepherd leaning on his crook; a lamb feeding from its mother; a donkey and a cow in a field; and a boy carrying a jug. The border decoration consists of flowers, birds, and butterflies.
Unmarked.
Condition: Three of the plates have no damage at all, however one plate (the boy carrying a jug) has a four-centimetre hairline from the rim and a pinhead nick to the foot rim. Typical of ceramic wares from this period, small spur or stilt marks are present, demonstrating how these plates were stacked in the saggar prior to firing. The use of kiln furniture prevented the glazed plates from fusing together in the kiln.
Dimensions: Diameter 11.2 cm
The Dictionary of Blue & White Printed Pottery 1780-1880, Volume I, A.W. Coysh & R.K. Henrywood (Antique Collectors’ Club, 1995).