Fabulous Antique, 1850s Polychrome Transferware Plate with Hand Painted Elements by Francis Morley and Co. in the Rare "Cleopatra" Pattern, Circa 1845-1858

A possible impending house move has forced me into evaluating all my collections and some items will have to go, in my effort to downsize, including this Lovely Polychrome Plate in my effort to downsize. I'm making progress but more items need to go!

I have quite the selection of individual decorative plates, which I have collected over the years with the idea of having a mad wall display, but never quite got round to it, and I have too many to display elsewhere.

I'll be selling them individually, so keep an eye out on my upcoming ads...

For sale here is a Fabulous Antique, 1850’s Polychrome Transferware Plate with Hand Painted Elements by Francis Morley and Co. in the Rare “Cleopatra” Pattern, Circa 1845-1858

Francis Morley (& Co.), Broad Street, Shelton, Hanley, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, was in operation from 1845-1858. Formerly Francis Morley was part of the Ridgway & Morley partnership, and subsequently the Morley & Ashworth partnership until 1862, and then G L Ashworth & Bros, 1863 onwards (this is the firm that produced Mason’s Ironstone China, after Francis Morley had purchased the patterns and moulds from Charles Mason when he went bankrupt in 1848). From 1968 onwards, this was renamed Mason’s Ironstone China.

This plate dates to the time period of when Francis Morley had his own company so circa 1845-58. Many of his designs from this time, did not bear a company backstamp, only the pattern backstamp, as is the case with the Cleopatra range. I am unsure if this was an original one of his designs, ( or a design from his time at Ridgway) or possibly it came from Charles Mason’s back catalogue when he sold Francis his moulds and patterns in 1848.

This beautiful Ironstone polychrome transferware plate is in the "Cleopatra" pattern, which depicts an Egyptian scene with flowers, trees, stone wall, urn, Egyptian columns, buildings and obelisk and in the background. The wide border is decorated with flora, vegetables, fruits and Victorian scroll designs.

The transferware image is dark mulberry, almost black, with green, yellow, red and pink hand painted polychrome shades. Unusually, (and not the case with all plates in this pattern) some floral transferware elements are also on the reverse, in addition to the backstamp. The backstamp is a decorative motif to include the “Cleopatra” pattern name but not the company name. The pattern number is also present: 1545.

The plate measures 9.25 inches/ 23.5 cm in diameter.

The plate is in very good Antique condition considering it is approximately 175 years old,, but it does have all-over fine age related crazing, some loss to the hand painting and a small chip to the rear, barely visible from the front.
All of these imperfections add to the character of the plate and are a testament to it’s great age and the fact that it was treasured and used. See the photos which form part of the condition report.

Suitable for wall hanging, or kitchen dresser display or everyday use.

I have included a photo of a similar plate for sale online, to show the good value available here! I cannot find an exact match, as some of the few available examples are monochrome, or have the painting in different colours with less detail.

Check out my other ads and more coming soon! Discounts possible for multiple purchases!