Object Number 2023.0014.003.005

Object Name

Plate (Child's or alphabet plate)

Title

Famous Places: Paris / Notre-Dame Paris

Category

Ceramics

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Irving and Davida Shipkowitz Family Trust

Creator (Role)

Brownhills Pottery Co. (Maker)
1872-1896

Place of Origin

Tunstall, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Date

1895

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Inscription; Front; Transfer-printed blackish-brown alphabet (upper case)
2. Inscription; Front; Transfer-printed brown "FAMOUS PLACES," "PARIS," and "NOTRE-DAME PARIS"
3. Mark; Underside; Transfer-printed brown "R\d No. 26734" in rectangle over "B.P. C\o"
4. Mark; Underside; Impressed "C"?
5. Label; Front rim; Rectangular sticker inscribed in handwritten black ink, "ABC PLATE / 'PARIS' / $250 / p1428425."
6. Label; Underside; White rectangular sticker is inscribed in black pen, "C27."

Subjects

Education

Materials

Earthenware (white)

Techniques

Molded, Printed, Painted

Dimensions (inches)

0.91 (H) , 8.43 (Diam)

Dimensions (centimeters)

2.3 (H) , 21.4 (Diam)

Measurement Notes

Measurement taken from Shipkowitz book "The ABC's of ABC Ware" 7.87"

Object Description

Web - 03/28/2024

From the 1800s onward, advances in ceramic manufacturing and shipping made more wares available to larger audiences, including children. Parents, for example, acquired small plates and mugs as gifts or toys towards furthering their children's education. The Brownhills Pottery's "Famous Places" series of transfer-printed earthenware plates and mugs not only displays the English alphabet in upper case but also shares images--most likely copied from published prints--of important locals across the world.

This plate is printed in dark brown with details picked out in hand-painted red and green. The rectangular scene bears the series title "FAMOUS PLACES" The primary ornament on the plate features two printed scenes, the one at the upper left being rectangular and bearing the series title "FAMOUS PLACES" above an urban scene with a bridges and a river. Below the scene is the title "PARIS." The smaller circular scene portrays a gothic church above the title "NOTRE-DAME PARIS." The underside of the plate bears the transfer-printed pattern registry mark "R\d No. 26734" (for 1895) in a rectangle over the factory mark, "B.P. C\o." (for the Brownhills Pottery Company).

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Shipkowitz, Davida & Shipkowitz, Irving. 2002 The ABC’s of ABC Ware.
• Published: p. 153, fig. C27 (detail), Brownhills Pottery Co., Tunstall, Staffordshire. Factory date: 1872-96. Registry mark #26734 date: 1895.