1835 Bi Color Yellow Transferware Handled Plate Etruscan Festoon Ridgway

$349.99

Brand Nancy's Daily Dish

After 1828, technology allowed potters to produce two and three color transfer wares.  This truly stunning example dating to 1835, by Ridgway is a very highly sought after piece in the Etruscan Festoon pattern.  Yellow is the very rarest color of transferware,  and the intricacy in transfer placement on this piece is unsurpassed. The rim of this serving plate is scalloped, embossed at four places with flowers and highlighted with gold.  There is an alternating pattern of light and dark flowers. The light bouquets are placed over a double scroll and interweave with the dark swags below. The dark flowers are placed over the open urn filled with dark flowers and joined to the other urns with swags of flowers. The outer edge is decorated with a band of rosettes. The central area, surrounded by both dark and light swags, is filled with a spray of roses. Open handles are elaborately decorated and embossed.   Truly an exquisite piece even for the most selective of collectors.

Measures 10" x 9”

Condition: Minor rough spots around outer rim.  Stilt marks, minor glaze pops (common during production of this time period), light discoloration to the back, crazing and a little gold loss to the decorated edge and raised floral motif'

Ridgway Potteries Ltd, was founded sometime around 1744.  Sometimes called the Grandfather of the Potteries, the Ridgway family can be traced to the earliest days of the Staffordshire potteries, along with such famous names as Wedgwood, Spode and Adams.  
 
Under the management of one family member, John Ridgway, the Ridgway potters were appointed as Potter to Her Majesty Queen Victoria.  This was the highest acclaim for any English pottery firm.
 
One of the family members, William Ridgway,  operated the Bell Works in Shelton and the Church Works in nearby Hanley from 1830-54.  The Bell Works Pottery at Bethesda Street  has been The Potteries Museum since 1956 and houses the largest and most important collection of North Staffordshire pottery in the world.
The last photo is an old photo of some 19th Century bottle kilns at the Ridgway factory in Shelton. These were some of the largest kilns in the area.  They were used as air raid shelters during WWII. They were demolished in the 1960's.