A Child’s Nursery Plate, Dixon, Phillips & Co, Garrison Pottery, Sunderland, circa 1850
The centre of this pearlware pottery nursery plate is transfer-printed and hand-coloured with a bucolic garden scene in which a well-dressed girl holds aloft a garland. Behind her is a balustrade and an urn on a pedestal. Tall trees are in the near distance and flowers and grass can be seen in the foreground. The plate has a shaped rim and is moulded with masses of daisy flower heads.
Impressed mark Dixon Co.
It is rare to find any nursery ware with identifiable maker’s marks from this period.
The Dixon Co mark (in a straight line and without the ampersand) was used by the firm of Dixon, Phillips & Co, at The Garrison Pottery, in around the mid-19th century. This pottery was located in the port of Sunderland, on the south shore of the River Wear. Producing lustre-decorated wares, the partnership had existed in various forms from the early 19th century, before ceasing in 1865.
Condition: No damage or restoration, just typical light crazing to the bluish pearl glaze in places, and also very minor spots of discolouration to the moulded decoration. There are three spur marks within the foot rim, evidence of how such wares were stacked on tiny supports in the kiln.
Dimensions: Diameter 15 cm