BACKGROUND:
Wow! My wife has handed me something quite special (as said she) and doing some research on this piece of Royal Doulton, she is totally correct (as usual!)
WWII had just begun in earnest, it is 1939 and in September UK and France declared war with Germany. This rectangular dining table dish was produced in that year but perhaps more interesting is the lower section of the backstamp stating, Regd Australia 16822 ...
How so Russ? (I hear you asking, left hand on top of your head, tongue drooping to one side of your mouth)
This piece of Royal Doulton was certainly NOT made in Australia, Doulton never had a "works" outside of England at this time BUT some unscrupulous makers in Australia (and Asian imports) were actively attempting to make a quid by producing counterfeit Royal Doulton designs. By Royal Doulton registering their designs with the Federal Government of Australia, this provided Royal Doulton with legal protection of their designs in Australian (and actually throughout the Commonwealth - remember when people spoke of the Commonwealth?) This legal protection also allowed the big retailers in Australian to secure genuine Royal Doulton product and grow their marketshare of the genuine product. Often you can find the same technique used on those beautiful Carltonware leaf dishes - exactly the same idea.
This all means that product leaving the works at Royal Doulton were pre-destined for the eager buyers in the "antipodes" - Australia. While a similar design (Violets) is fairly readily available in England, this Wild Pansy design was prevalent in the Australian market. My wife personally likes the Australian design much more ... with the multi-coloured pansy decoration instead of just plain old purple Violets surrounded by Black!
But wait there's more! (no steak knives though) ... there are two impressions in the ceramic on the underside, near the backstamp. Quite difficult to read (hint: look at these in the sunlight, held at "just the right angle") and they read
8161
11 39
Now here my wife (and I) are a bit confused (and not just because we are 'older') because the design number printed in Purple clearly states D5806 so why the 8161 ... life is full of puzzles, this is one of them!
The second number grouping is much easier to decipher, referring to November (11) 1939 (39) which agrees with the numerical code to the right of the "double D" backstamp
Enough said ....
ROYAL DOULTON - Rectangular Handled Dining Table Dish
Made in England
Pattern: D5806
Pattern name: Wild Pansy
Here is a photograph of the backstamp ...
Opaque
Hand decorated (artist and gilder's marks on the underside)
DESIGN:
Obviously pansies (Wild ones at that!) in Purple, Yellow and Red plus the foliage.
This pattern follows all around the rim but does not go down into the base of the dish. This decoration is bordered with Gold gilding. There is a finger handle at each end of the dish, also decorated with heavy Gold gilding.
Personally, my wife suggests this should be used (you do use your Doulton don't you?) for dry foods such as nuts or sweets, not as a hot gravy dish!
DIMENSIONS:
Total length (including the handles) 228mm (9 inches) x 102mm (4 inches) wide
Not a deep dish at just 15mm depth (or close enough)
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
NO cracks
NO fleabites at all
NO chips
NO damage or discolouration observed to the decorative artwork
Gold gilding appears in very good condition, I cannot see any handling wear or sections of the gilding missing.
Nothing but nothing is perfect at 87 years old but I would still give this dish a DLAT rating of 8/10 (it's a fun thing we do ... meaning Darling Look At This!)
There is crazing ... both topside and underneath but fortunately it is NOT significantly discoloured and no nasty bacteria has buried itself down inside the glaze to live with the ceramic (the common cause of discolouration which shows itself as Brownish marks) This crazing is the major reason my wife only used this dish with dry goodies, not hot liquids such as gravy. I say "not significantly" discoloured because I can see one very light area on the topside that looks ever so slightly Brown - take a look at the "top view, looking down" photograph to see what I mean. This is the only area I noticed this.
NOTE: When cleaning or washing, always ensure the dish is completely dried when finishing with the chore of cleaning - do not invite local bacteria into your prized Royal Doulton dish!
There you have it ... not only a very pleasant dish to behold, it's Royal Doulton and produced for the Australian market ... probably the original owner of this dish bought it at one of large department stores such as Anthony Horden's - so many historical boxes are ticked with this one!
