A Toy Plate, pearlware, English or Scottish, circa 1830
The centre of this charming pearlware toy pottery plate is decorated with a manganese transfer print of a Swiss chalet or Alpine villa surrounded by trees, the foreground with large flowers and a rococo C-scroll. The gadroon-moulded rim is interspersed with moulded scrolls and flower heads. A border of trailing leaves and hearts painted in Pratt colours (ochre, green and blue) completes the decoration.
The British were fascinated by the Alps in the early 19th century, perhaps fuelled by accounts of the Grand Tour, and the majestic scenery described by Byron and the Romantic poets. An area of North London (Swiss Cottage) takes its name from an inn resembling an Alpine villa built there in 1804.
This combination of painted, moulded and printed decoration on pearlware toy plates is unusual. Staffordshire, Yorkshire, North Eastern, and Scottish potteries are all possible contenders.
Unmarked.
Condition: The decoration is in good order. There is a minute nick to the underside of the rim which is not visible from the front. From manufacture, there is a tiny firing flaw (kiln touch) to the edge of the plate. The delicious blue pearl glaze has pooled in places. No cracks or restoration.
Dimensions: Diameter 10.3 cm