Code: 10193
Rare Porcelain Aesthetic Movement Plate
Fontaine / Aesops Fables ~ Ant & Dove
Brown Westhead and Moore Potteries
Staffordshire England ~ c. 1880
This is a superb and quite scare hand painted plate registered around 1880. The plate measures 9 " in diameter. The plate is finely potted porcelain. The decoration is based on a woodcut from the highly coveted Nature series made by Brown Westhead and Moore, most commonly found on architectural tiles. It is beautifully decorated in rich earthy tones.
The fable:
THE ANT AND THE DOVE
A Dove saw an Ant fall into a brook. The Ant struggled in vain to reach the bank, and in pity, the Dove dropped a blade of straw close beside it. Clinging to the straw like a shipwrecked sailor to a broken spar, the Ant floated safely to shore.
Soon after, the Ant saw a man getting ready to kill the Dove with a stone. But just as he cast the stone, the Ant stung him in the heel, so that the pain made him miss his aim, and the startled Dove flew to safety in a distant wood.
Moral: A kindness is never wasted.
The plate is in great condition. The images are clear and crisp with intricate detail and whimsical styling. The plate was made with great attention to detail.
