James Kent works were located at the Old Foley Pottery, Stoke-On-Trent. At times, townships of the surrounding area appeared on their products, this plate has one such town on the backstamp - FENTON.
The backstamp clearly indentifies this piece as coming from the works during the period 1936 ~ 1945, after this year the wording changed to Made in England
This cake server plate IS part of a complete set we USED to have of the same design, split up as we felt the individual pieces may be of more interest to someone - look HERE to see another piece of this same design
DLAT Rating 8/10 !!! (Darling Look At This!)
JAMES KENT - Cake Server Plate ONLY
Made in Great Britain
Circa period Mid 1936 ~ 1945
Octagonal shape
Width (it is a little hard to judge from the photograph) is 230mm side to side
Fine China
Opaque china, meaning that you cannot see through the china when held to the light
Handpainted but also some transferware
The outer two border patterns look to be transferware, they are just far too "machine like" in appearance to have been produced by hand
HOWEVER
the floral design (three separate designs in total) is definitely hand created.
Hand gold gilding to the Octagonal shaped plate.
Quality of workmanship is very high with just a few "differences" between the designs and within the design, and a "slip of the hand" when the gold gilding was applied, it is hand decorated after all.
The design comprises an assortment of Spring flowers (Yellow, White, Red, Purple & Blues) with foliage - a "cheerful" plate, particularly in those troubled times - this was the War Years (WWII) after all!
BACKSTAMP DETAILS:
Light Green backstamp
Shield with a Crown atop (graphic)
JAMES KENT (arched)
LTD.
FENTON
MADE IN (Down one side of the shield)
GREAT BRITAIN (Up one side of the shield)
2053 (Probably the pattern number but I cannot find any confirmation of this)
The back stamp is accompanied by the artist markings in Green/Black
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Let's be realistic here, nothing is perfect after 85 years, I have examined the cake server plate VERY CAREFULLY and noticed the following ...
CLEAN
NO cracks
NO discolouration to the china base material
NO discolouration to the artist's painting
NO damage nor wear showing to the double row border pattern
TWO small fleabites to the underside
Crazing can be observed top and bottom but this is NOT heavy, although it is extensive. None of the crazing has become contaminated i.e no discolouration due to mould growth. In normal household lighting it is quite difficult to see the crazing but once held in the sunshine it is obvious.
In summary, this cake server plate is in very good condition after all these years (think of all the world events that have passed since these were made) a nice example of James Kent and perfectly suitable for a special occasion such as "High Tea" (A very "proper" and civil, quaint English dining custom)
