Superb Samuel Alcock Burgundy Ground Porcelain Botanical Dessert Plate 3/1612 c.1835

A very striking large porcelain dessert plate by Samuel Alcock of shallow form with shaped rim. It has a rich burgundy ground with complex reserves to represent a weaving vine running just inside the rim and to the lower edge of the ground and criss-crossing branches leading from the rim in towards the centre. These vine branches are shaded with a yellow enamel to the lower edges to create depth and there are stylized floral garlands dangling from the rim which are similarly shaded. The burgundy is decorated with gilt, the outer edge around the rim with a vermicelli pattern and the main body with an unusual "cracked ice" type design. In the centre is painted a floral bouquet of hawthorn blossom and some pretty pendulous pale blue flowers. Pattern number 3 over 1612 to the reverse, c.1835-1840. Reference: Staffordshire Porcelain, Godden, plate 481 shows another example.