A dreamy Staffordshire plate from the 19th century with an elaborate pale blue transferware design of an Italianate villa or castle on a river with sailboats and simple folk fishing and boating. There are repeating villa designs within a cartouche encircling the central medallion.

 

The heavy ceramic molded plate has a shallow rounded foot with a glazed base. The glaze is thick, finely crazed, and feels thick and very smooth. The middle of the base has a transfer mark with the company name T.J.&J. MAYER in a circular wreath surrounding the pattern name FLORENTINE. There is a griffin above the wreath.

 

 

9 5/8” (24.4 cm) diameter x 1 OE” (3.2 cm) tall. Weighs 1 lb 6.1 oz (630 g)

 

 

There are no breaks, chips, or cracks. There is wear to the central plate medallion and staining on the underside. There are kiln flaws, such as black spots, tiny glaze pin holes, and blue spots. The transfer was done very well with only a few very tiny smudges on the mouth rim.

 

A great plate with a nice pale blue.