MYOTT & SONS VINTAGE POLYCHROME CHARGER OR DASHER

This Attractive Square Service Plate, Charger/Dasher was made by Myott & Sons, England.  Variations of the cartouche on the back was used from 1936-1958. However, this piece dates approximately 1940’s.

It measures 13 1/4” Square and is transfer printed with hand painted polychrome colors. The pattern name is “Peasantry”. Its medium is a semi-porcelain or earthenware body. This plate/dasher has roses and tulips vividly hand painted in polychrome colors of blue, pink, rust and green.

COMMENT: This Polychrome Charger has a charming naivety, done in the Gaudy Dutch style, that would fit comfortably into a formal or informal setting!

It would look nice setting on a mahogany sideboard or in a dark mahogany open hutch. From one extreme to another, it would look equally attractive decorating a rustic open pine hutch. From this point of view, it lends itself to either a city look or a country look.

CONDITION: Excellent! Slight "crazing" which is normal and acceptable for this thin earthenware body. This is not considered damage or “cracking”! Great decorator piece!

A LITTLE NOTE OF INTEREST:

Semi-Porcelain was a term many manufacturers used to describe the body of this thin earthenware; and stamped on the back of various pieces as a sale gimmick to basically mislead the buyer at the time to think that he or she was actually buying real porcelain. Such an addition was added to the cartouche mark starting back about circa 1900-1910.

This form of earthenware was made to get away from the very heavy ironstone wares that were made prior 1900. The label semi-porcelain was purposely stamped to misrepresent and pass as porcelain. Of course the price of this thin earthenware was drastically cheaper than real porcelain. The semi-porcelain tried to emulate the same look as porcelain in that the glazes were very glassy in appearance and looked like porcelain. Hence semi-porcelain caught on and sales escalated under the guise of true porcelain and now semi porcelain was falsely taking over sales from porcelain.

Consequently for years and even today, many people think that semi-porcelain is porcelain. Even “dealers” sell semi-porcelain as porcelain which is erroneous, which I find quite bothersome and misleading for the buyer. This is very evident in many shops whether they are located in small towns, cities, on eBay or on the net (web stores).  

Categorization of bone china, pottery and porcelain is uniquely different; and dealers who sell such products should be aware of that, and describe them accordingly such that the buyer is actually buying and paying for what the dealer has described; and not for something erroneously described by the dealer.

There is a big difference between the different earthenware, porcelain and bone china products. Other than difference in composition, there is also a price difference, depending on the article of manufacture. Such articles should be sold for what they are, and not for… what they are not!

Semi-porcelain is pottery or earthenware that has no bone ash content and is neither translucent nor porous; and light does not travel through it when held to the light.