Venables & Baines "Union" Luncheon Plate, c. 1852

A wonderful mid-19th-century Staffordshire transferware luncheon plate in the “Union” pattern by Venables & Baines, featuring a romantic pastoral landscape with a grand country estate, distant mountains, figures, and a horse-drawn plow in the foreground. The surrounding border is particularly charming, combining agricultural vignettes with sweeping botanical forms and foliage.

The Union pattern was registered on February 17, 1852, the exact date recorded by the registration mark on the reverse of this plate. The pattern was produced by Venables & Baines during their short-lived partnership at the Hole House Pottery in Burslem, Staffordshire, circa 1850–1852. Examples are known in both transfer-printed earthenware and ironstone, and the firm specialized heavily in transfer-printed wares intended for the American market.

Venables & Baines was a brief partnership involving John Venables and Baines, operating in Burslem during the early 1850s. The firm followed the earlier partnership of Mellor, Venables & Co., which had established the Hole House Pottery and was itself known for printed and flow blue wares for the American market. Venables & Baines was subsequently succeeded by Venables, Mann & Co. and John Venables & Co.

The short period of production makes pieces carrying the Venables & Baines name especially interesting to collectors, and the original registration date gives this particular plate an unusually precise place in Staffordshire pottery history.

Origin: Burslem, Staffordshire, England
Maker: Venables & Baines
Pattern: Union
Date: February 17, 1852
Material: Transfer-printed earthenware / ironstone
Decoration: Blue transferware
Dimensions: 9.25" diameter
Condition: Antique condition with age-related crazing, discoloration, and minor imperfections consistent with age and use. Please see photographs for details.