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I found this item in a charity shop, it has no I.D. markings, it is 10 and a halfe inches across.
Where the edge is chipped a dull porus (almost terra cotta?) material seems to be underneath. The plate? is still in the wire hanging thing for display. It seems to be quite crudely hand painted with top surface enamel?.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Dave.

Dave, your dish looks and sounds like an old European soft-paste stoneware piece with a Chinoiserie transfer motif. The terra cotta color you describe sounds like Delft clay, while the general appearance of the figures reminds me a bit of English New Hall wares, albeit a bit busier than I'm used to seeing. Without a mark or precise pattern match, identification of the maker may be a tough row to hoe, since European makers tended to copy each other freely before copyright laws came about.
Regards,
Bill H.

Thank you very much for your response, I am certain that this plate cannot be a transfer as you can feel the raised paint and even see it in the right light, does this mean that it has been "clobbered"? I wonder if you could respond again and tell me what the difference is between a plate and a charger, also when you think this item was made.

Thanks again for your interest.

Dave

Dave, there's little else I can offer in the way of relevant positive information, as my main expertise is in the area of antique Chinese export porcelain, and your dish appears to be European. Its clay is described as having the wrong color, its polychrome enamels are mostly off-register for the Chinese palette, and its pattern lacks any coherent presence of the expected Chinese symbolism.

In my opinion, the term "clobbered" probably is inapplicable, because some European polychrome transfer wares were hand-colored.

As to the definition of "charger," I wouldn't want to risk offending the lexicographers at Oxford or Webster's by deigning to compete with their dictionaries. Although still somewhat of a neophyte around the forum myself, I gather that there's still a modicum of preliminary basic research that everyone is expected to do at home on our own.

Cheers,

Bill H.

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