Tea plate, earthenware with stencilled decoration, made by John Tams Ltd., England, ca.1955-1960.

White earthenware tea plate, rimless, with stencilled decoration of large blue dots.

Nos. C.131 to 155-1992 form a group of ware selected from Susannah Walker's own collection to show a variety of popular "contemporary" designs in mass-produced tableware. She had collected these from car-boot sales, charity and bric-a-brac shops etc, rarely paying more than a few pence for each.

Plate is representative of the consumer demand for Contemporary tableware and consequent boom in the production of these goods in post-war Britiain. Bright simple decoration is a predictable reaction to the austerity of the wares enforced by government regulations until 1948. In order to speed up production, manufacturers used stencil patterns and air-brushing techniques. This decoration would most likely have only been used for tea sets: the loud colours and patterns would have been considered too strong for formal dining.
[Susan McCormack, 'British Design at Home', p.143]

C.150-1992