Earthenware Plate – Barratts of Staffordshire Ltd. – Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, c. 1950–1960

Beautiful English earthenware plate with a blue-and-white design, made by Barratts of Staffordshire Ltd. in Burslem, Staffordshire, probably during the 1950s–1960s.

Circular in form, the plate features an elegant printed decoration in monochrome blue on a white ground. The wide border is entirely filled with a rich floral composition of large open flowers, smaller blossoms, foliage and intertwined branches. The densely patterned ground, punctuated with small white motifs, further enhances the contrast with the deep blue transfer print. The outer rim is finished with a regular scalloped border.

The well is decorated with a particularly picturesque English rural scene. Beneath a large spreading tree, a pastoral landscape unfolds, with a small church and steeple, trees and rolling hills in the background. In the foreground, a figure accompanies a horse-drawn cart loaded with a harvest, probably hay or sheaves of grain. A small stream or waterway completes the composition.

The overall design reflects the English taste for pastoral landscapes and traditional rural scenes, widely reproduced by Staffordshire manufacturers in their printed earthenware production throughout the 20th century.

The decoration was produced using transfer printing, a technique particularly characteristic of English earthenware. The finely rendered landscape, foliage and floral details deliberately evoke the appearance of an old engraved illustration.

The reverse bears the printed Barratts – Made in England mark, together with the manufacturer's distinctive emblem. This form of marking is consistent with Barratts production from the 1950s onwards.