Code: 10608
Rare Earthenware Aesthetic Movement Plate
Fontaine / Aesops Fables ~ CAT & ROOSTER
Brown Westhead and Moore Potteries
Staffordshire England ~ c. 1880
This is a superb and quite scare transferware plate registered around 1880. The plate measures 9 1/4 " in diameter. The plate is finely potted. The decoration is based on a woodcut etching from the highly coveted Nature series made by Brown Westhead and Moore, most commonly found on architectural tiles. It is decorated in a dark blue mulberry.
The central image features the dilemma between the Cat and the crowing Rooster.
The fable:
A Cat caught a Rooster, and pondered how he might find a reasonable excuse for eating the Rooster. The Cat accused the Rooster of being a nuisance to people by crowing in the night time and not permitting them to sleep. The Rooster defended himself by saying that he did this for the benefit of people, that they might rise in time for work. The Cat replied, “Although you have many excuses, I shall not remain supperless”; and he made a meal of him.
The plate is in great condition, clean bright and shiny with no chips, cracks, hairlines or repairs.