Liverpool Pearlware Naval Battle Plates, Pair, Circa 1800

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Liverpool Pearlware Naval Battle Plates, Pair, Circa 1800


A pair of Liverpool pearlware plates printed in black with a naval … Read more Liverpool Pearlware Naval Battle Plates, Pair, Circa 1800


A pair of Liverpool pearlware plates printed in black with a naval engagement, made around 1800 when Britain's navy was the pride of the nation. Each plate has a gently scalloped rim finished with a crisp black line, and in the well three warships fight it out at close quarters: a big two-decker in the center with her pennant flying and her guns blazing, a frigate at the left answering through a cloud of smoke, and a third ship at the right nearly lost in her own broadside. Below them the sea rolls in a wonderfully stylized pattern of engraved waves. The two plates carry the same print and make a true pair.

Printed pottery like this came out of Liverpool, Britain's great Atlantic port, where the Herculaneum Pottery and its predecessors supplied ship captains, merchants, and sailors with wares celebrating the sea, and shipped enormous quantities to America. Black and white with a graphic, engraved quality, the plates read almost like framed prints and sit as happily in a contemporary interior as in a period one.

Hang them as a pair either side of a mirror in a hallway or powder room, prop them on a kitchen dresser or open shelving, or group them with other black-and-white transferware, sailor's woolworks, and marine paintings in a study or a coastal house. They also make a striking pair of stands for a pair of small hurricane lamps on a mantel or console.

Dimensions:
Diameter: 9 3/4 inches (24.8 cm)
Height: 1 inch (2.5 cm)

Provenance:
Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge

Condition:
No restoration.

(Ref: ny7150B-icr) See less