Plate

Object Type
Looking to extend markets throughout the British empire and beyond, manufacturers and retailers widened production accordingly. This plate was made specifically for sale in countries with a significant Muslim populace.

Design
The grammar of such inscriptions was sometimes inaccurate and, it has been pointed out, the inscriptions are often in a script similar to forms of Arabic script developed in China. It seems possible that British manufacturers and retailers, long familiar with Chinese ceramics, makers and markets, looked to these rather than to the Middle East for advice on widening their production to attract Muslim customers.

Trading
British-made plates with inscriptions in Arabic, taken from the Qur'an, are commonly found in Indonesia and India. George Houghton of 41 Threadneedle Street, London, the retailer who registered this pattern and presumably ordered it from Copeland, had direct connections with outlets in these countries.