This tiny dinner plate is a miniature version of a standard tableware pattern of the time...

This tiny dinner plate is a miniature version of a standard tableware pattern of the time -- produced by pressing clay into a plaster mold, just as the standard size tableware would have been produced. The wonderfully detailed border of geometric fields separated by scrolled cartouches was adapted from a full-size pattern popular in the day. The edge might not have been finished as carefully as its full size cousin, but one can hardly fault a piece so enchanting, or its Staffordshire maker, for less than total finesse.

This plate is a single survivor from a toy dinner service intended for some privileged little girl. Such baubles combined play with preparation for her eventual duties as hostess over an eighteenth century household.   

We have included photos of a full-size tortoise-glaze plate from the Seekers Antiques arch...

We have included photos of a full-size tortoise-glaze plate from the Seekers Antiques archive.  Comparison with this toy piece reveals the same diamond pattern and cartouche relief demonstrating how well these press-molded patterns adapted to miniature treatment.

The comparison reminds us that plates such as the tortoise, and other creamware examples utilized the same basic clay body, only fired at a lower temperature. We are also reminded that many of the stoneware patterns continued to appear on lower-fired earthenwares after the salt-glazed wares went out of fashion.