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These handpainted dishes were sent over, as a set, from China to the US. Most of the set was broken enroute. I'm thinking that these are at least 70 years old but can't find much information on them as the only marking is a red CHINA on the underside of one of the small dishes. Can anyone point me in the right direction of someone that might know something about these? Thank you so much!

Do internet search and search this message board and the forum for 'Rose Medallion' and 'Rose Mandarin', 'Rose Canton' all varieties the pattern. Several recent threads here. Dishes such as these made from middle 19th century to ca. 1940 sold in department stores 20th century in USA in huge numbers.

Your guess about 70 years-old probably right.

Good luck,
Cal

Hello Susie,

You probably thinking right.
This pattern is called "Rose medallion". If you make a search on that you'll find a lot of info. This pattern was made from about mid 1800's till about now.
The older, 19th. century pieces were unmarked. After 1891 till about 1920 most is marked with "China" and from 1920 with "Made in China". In second half of 20th. century a lot of badly decorated pieces were made in Hongkong and Macao and came with different markings (often in a square).
Older pieces were better painted, with more details (f.i golden earrings and hair ornaments for the woman) and colors looks often "warmer". Its hard to judge by these small pictures but the (overall)colors on the second picture looks warmer than the ones on the first picture. This makes me think that the second piece is older and unmarked and the first piece is newer and could have a "China" mark (just a guess off course)

I hope this is of little help.
Regards,

Arjan

Your dishes are decorated in the 'rose medallion' motif. Wares in the essential pattern were in production by the 1850's, and at the time simply were called 'highly decorated porcelain' by their purchasers, primarily in the Americas and Europe.

Your set can be dated to circa 1900 by its less brilliant enamels and gilding, as compared to what is seen on earlier editions. They also bear the 'CHINA' mark, which was required by the US McKinley Tariff Act of October 1890, which became effective in March of 1891, requiring all imports into the USA be labeled with their point of origin.

Herewith is a photo of an early rose medallion dish for comparison with yours. This one is unmarked, as was the case with virtually all dishes in this pattern before the McKinley Tariff Act came along. This shaped dish is in the earliest rose medallion variant, having reserves in the form of a melon slice, with stem and flowers attached. One of your pictures shows a bowl with a combination of these melon reserves and the standard ones bordered by a scroll motive.

If you'd like an idea of current values, eBay usually has a selection up for auction in this pattern, as do online malls such as trocadero.com and rubylane.com.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Thank you both for your helpful responses. Fortunately there's lots of excellent information about these dishes on the internet. I appreciate your help!

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