Period: Late Victorian
Maker: T.C. Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co.
The hand-coloured painting of wildflowers and bees on this Brown-Westhead, Moore dessert plate looks modern, but is from Queen Victoria’s reign. The stems, leaves and flower heads are depicted growing with wild abandon, although in truth there is nothing artless in their careful arrangement on the ceramic canvas. The enamel colours are bright yet soft on the creamy-white glaze.
We think the flowers could be ‘bulbous buttercups’, ‘musk mallows’ and wild orchids. Note the two bees hard at work.
The pattern number, B5324, is painted on the reverse. It dates from around 1876.
Condition Unused and immaculate
Diameter: 22.7 cm
Net weight: 414 g
Medium: Porcelain (bone china)
Origin: Stoke on Trent, England
For background on the factory, see Brown-Westhead, Moore & Cauldon in Makers & Artists