Plate

Date1714-1727

MediumTin-glazed earthenware (delft)

DimensionsOD; 9"; OH; 1 3/8".

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1937-181

DescriptionRound deep plate, no foot ring, narrow marley. Tin-glaze white with high gloss; decoration on face in cobalt (reflective where thick). In the center, a crown over initials "GR" within three circular bands surrounded by lines forming 8-pointed star. Clusters of four dots between star points. The side of well and marley decorated with three narrow, one broad, one narrow bands.
Label TextThree plates without the crown and initials seen here but with the same star decoration (one dated 1712, one dated 1721, and one with an AR cipher) suggest that this plate commemorates Anne's immediate successor, George I, and not a later George. The London attribution is based on the shape of the plate. An unpublished example at the George Gardner Museum of Ceramic Arts in Toronto is in polychrome. It has been suggested, with great credibility, that the star represents the star in the Order of the Garter.

Similar border bands have been excavated on several sites in Williamsburg, including the Play Booth Theater, the Levingston Kitchen (29AA.0335), and the Prentis House-Russell House 17DA.0671, 17DA.0804).
InscribedInscribed "GR"
MarkingsNo
ProvenanceGuitel Montague, New York