English: Creamware Plate, 1780-1790 V&A Museum no. 2302-1901

Techniques - Creamware (Queen's ware), transfer-printed in black enamel, 1780s

Artist/designer - Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd.

Place - Etruria (Stoke-on-Trent)

Dimensions - Width 22.9 cm

Object Type - This plate is of a type that was marketed as a dessert plate, and so was intended for eating stewed or fresh fruit. Dessert plates often had decorative moulded edgings and shaped rims or pierced borders, and were generally lighter and more decorative than dinner plates. However, tablewares of the same design could be used for serving both savoury and sweet courses, even in some of the most elaborate services. The distinction between the two may therefore not be as rigid as often thought. Soup and dinner plates were usually set out before the start of the meal at the time that this one was made, and clean plates were brought by servants when the dessert was served.

Materials & Making - The plate is made of cream ware, a type of glazed earthenware made by combining white-firing clays and calcined flint. Cream ware is hygienic, hard-wearing and heat resistant, making it highly suitable for tablewares.

Place -

The plate was made in Staffordshire but transfer-printed for Wedgwood in Liverpool. This arrangement probably came about because large quantities of his pottery were exported via Liverpool. Wedgwood's factory was on the banks of the Grand Trunk Canal, which connected the Staffordshire Potteries to the ports of Liverpool and Hull.