BACKGROUND:
Yet more of my wife's beloved, J & G Meakin tableware, this piece was acquired by my wife back in the 1980's from a family estate and this salad set is becoming quite difficult to find these days.
The major factors that influenced my wife to purchase the complete dinner set at the time was the hand painting, the SOL (Sun) backstamp and the reminder of "days long past" ... we are both very strong believers in maintaining memories of the past, if you do not know where you've been then how can you plan your future (and learn from the past mistakes)
This salad set is a sprightly 85+ years old, around the time of WWII although more likely this left the works towards the end of the 1940's, when the heavy restrictions placed upon potteries due to the focus on the war effort were relaxed.
My wife's tastes and interests in the world of ceramics and chinaware have changed somewhat over the years and her beloved J & G Meakin wares no longer fit with her interests (now she hunts for pre-1900 porcelain, ceramics in the style of figurines etc)
J & G MEAKIN - Salad Bowl Set
Made in England
Circa 1940's (the SOL design was used from around 1912 until the 1960's)
Shape: Square (both pieces)
The pattern name is not indicated and unknown, my wife called this the Marigold salad set ... so that's the name (for us)
Cream White base colouring with bright vibrant Yellow ~ Orange flowers around the sides of both pieces
Both pieces have Gold gilding applied to the rims
All decoration has been hand applied with decorator's markings on the underside
DIMENSIONS:
Top Salad Bowl (with the 9 holes) 190mm (7.5") x 190mm (7.5") x 40mm (1.5") deep
Not made for a large amount of fruits or vegetables as the top bowl is reasonably shallow
Base plate (to catch the water from the top bowl) 215mm (8.5") x 215mm (8.5")
WEIGHT (Combined): 700g
COSMETIC CONDITION:
The following information relates to both pieces equally, any differences are noted below this section
CLEAN
NO chips
NO cracks
NO discolouration to the base Cream~White colours
NO discolouration or damage to the applied decorations
Gold gilding is in very good condition, showing practically no signs of handling wear at all. Quite normal when you think about it as this salad bowl set would not have been in everyday use but just occasionally.
NO crazing (dry or wet) was observed on the straining bowl ...
NO fleabites to the straining bowl ...
HOWEVER ...
The base plate DOES have fairly visible crazing to the top and underneath surfaces. These are not unsightly nor discoloured (from the entry of bacteria and making their new "home" under glaze!) Just nice clean glazing cracks and this would suggest the bottom plate was cleaned and washed much more than the top salad bowl.
I can also see two small fleabites to the underside of this base plate, not discoloured but they are there none-the-less
