Staffordshire pearlware plate, blue and white dragons and snakes, ca 1820

This is an exceptionally beautiful blue and white pearlware plate made in Staffordshire in about 1820. The plate has intriguing images of transfer printed dragons and snakes. Blue on white decorations were done in East Asia for many centuries, and were made popular in the West by the Dutch Delftware potters in the 17th Century. In about 1800, the famous Spode factory in Staffordshire created a transfer printing process that could mass produce beautifully decorated blue and white wares, making this a very common and desired choice of tableware for the two centuries to come. Potters all over Britain quickly started to make use of this new technology and copied the famous Spode patterns.

This plate was probably part of a large dinner service. It has a wonderful transfer printed decoration with four dragons, interlinking snakes, and mysterious repeated little landscapes with a teepee, a monoptorous and a pagoda, possibly standing for the parts of the British Empire in the Americas, the Middle East and East Asia. Each dragon is different, one of them clearly the "top dog", the others slightly smaller but equally menacing. The plate is potted in very fine pearlware with a smooth glaze and fresh colours.

CONDITION REPORT The plate is in excellent antique condition without any damage or repairs, virtually no wear and only some crazing as can be expected from a pearlware plate. Antique British china is never perfect.

Kilns were fired on coal in the 1800s, and this meant that china from that period can have some firing specks from flying particles. British makers were also known for their experimentation, and sometimes this resulted in technically imperfect results. Due to the shrinkage in the kiln, items can have small firing lines or develop crazing over time, which should not be seen as damage but as an imperfection of the maker's recipes, probably unknown at the time of making. Items have often been used for many years and can have normal signs of wear, and gilt can have signs of slight disintegration even if never handled. I will reflect any damage, repairs, obvious stress marks, crazing or heavy wear in the item description but some minor scratches, nicks, stains and gilt disintegration can be normal for vintage items and need to be taken into account.

There is widespread confusion on the internet about the difference between chips and nicks, or hairlines and cracks. I will reflect any damage as truthfully as I can, i.

A nick is a tiny bit of damage smaller than 1mm and a chip is something you can easily see with the eye; a glazing line is a break in the glazing only; hairline is extremely tight and/or superficial and not picked up by the finger; and a crack is obvious both to the eye and the finger. Etcetera - I try to be as accurate as I can and please feel free to ask questions or request more detailed pictures! DIMENSIONS 25cm (9.75) diameter. The item "Staffordshire pearlware plate, blue and white dragons and snakes, ca 1820" is in sale since Tuesday, June 22, 2021. This item is in the category "Pottery, Porcelain & Glass\Date-Lined Ceramics\Pre-c. The seller is "rattlethecups" and is located in London. This item can be shipped worldwide.

• Sub-Type: British
• Colour: Blue
• Style: Regency
• Material: Ceramic
• Use: Tableware
• Product Type: Dinner Plates
• Original/Reproduction: Antique Original
• Time Period Manufactured: Pre-c.1840
• Pattern: Dragons and Snakes
• Date of production: ca 1820
• Featured Refinements: Pearlware
• Manufacturer/ Type: Staffordshire