Code: 11052
Staffordshire Allegorical Cabinet Plate
DIGNITY & IMPUDENCE
William Brownfield Cobridge Staffordshire England c 1880
This is a gorgeous transferware porcelain plate, printed in blue and measures 9 1/2” in diameter. Artistically hand painted under the glaze.
It is decorated with a fantasy image of elves and fairies submerged in the water giving the wise bird varying degrees of attention.
This stunning Aesthetic movement image is part of an early series of fantasy illustrations based on The Water-Babies, a Victorian children's novel by the Charles Kingsley, written in 1862, a mainstay of children's literature, written as an educational fable. The protagonist of the book is Tom, an inquisitive young boy who falls into a river where he is transformed into a ‘water baby’ and begins his moral education, embarking on a series of adventures and lessons in the company of other water babies. The main characters he meets along the way are fairies and elves, each teaching him a moral or spiritual lesson.
Great condition. Transfer printed earthenware plates of this quality in this pattern are especially unique. Fantasy wares!
