Masons "Old School House" pattern defines Masons panache. Masons rich, deep cobalt ground provides the perfect contrast for bravura brushwork and almost drunken excesses of gilt. Two hand painted chinoiserie reserves, floral and scenic, take center stage in a brilliant orange manifesto. The lower quickly executed scenic panel includes a cluster of buildings--the "Old School House." The upper fan shape panel almost overflows with an oriental derived floral study. Finally, the composition is knitted together with a flamboyant network of flowers and vines executed in gilt and orange enamels. On the covered vegetable, this element becomes even more important. As the two orange decorative panels expand and contract to fit the piece, this network of flowers and vines fills out the balance of the surface.

One can easily become starstruck with the panache of Masons Ironstone "Old School House" pattern. However comparison of the covered vegetable dish with other pieces in the pattern--plates and jugs--demonstrates the brilliance of this hand painted pattern. Only a hand painted pattern, with the breezy look of execution which Masons achieved here could adapt itself so successfully, with such an effortless air, as Masons exhibits in their "Old School House" ironstone pattern.