The Pirates of Penzance souvenir plate
Plate
ca.1980 (made)
ca.1980 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This plate is one of a limited edition of 25,000 made by Caverswall China Limited, a company based in Stoke-on-Trent that produced bone china since its inception in 1973. Caverswall English China was granted its first Royal Warrant as a Fine Bone China Manufacturer by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2008. Halcyon Days acquired the company as a sister brand in 2015.
The designs are the artist's idea of scenes and characters from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan and are not related to any production. It was first seen in England in a matinee production by D'Oyly Carte's touring company who were in Paignton at the Bijou Theatre on 30th December 1879. This was an attempt by D'Oyly Carte to authorise his copyright at home on the new work that he was also opening in New York at Fifth Avenue Theatre on the 31st December 1879. The London opening was at the Savoy Theatre on the 3rd April 1880. The characters shown on the plate include Frederic, Mabel, the Major General and his Daughters, the Pirate King and his pirate crew.
The designs are the artist's idea of scenes and characters from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan and are not related to any production. It was first seen in England in a matinee production by D'Oyly Carte's touring company who were in Paignton at the Bijou Theatre on 30th December 1879. This was an attempt by D'Oyly Carte to authorise his copyright at home on the new work that he was also opening in New York at Fifth Avenue Theatre on the 31st December 1879. The London opening was at the Savoy Theatre on the 3rd April 1880. The characters shown on the plate include Frederic, Mabel, the Major General and his Daughters, the Pirate King and his pirate crew.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Pirates of Penzance souvenir plate (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Bone china |
| Brief description | Souvenir plate decorated with scenes from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert & Sullivan. Bone china designed and decorated by Ian Fowler, made by Caverswall China Co. Ltd., number 551 in a limited edition of 25,000 |
| Physical description | Bone china plate decorated with five scenes from Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, one in the centre showing the pirates seizing the Major General's daughters and four around the rim entitled with lyrics from the opera: 'For you I will leave her behind'; 'However plain you be I love you'; 'Come one and all undaunted men in blue', and 'Oh master hear one word I do emplore you', as well as two motifs of the electric light sconces at the Savoy Theatre, a comedy mask in a lyre with the initials G&A, and the name of the opera on a banner below a crown, a rose, a sea view and two flags, one the Union Jack and the other depicting a skull and crossbones. Text printed on the reverse notes the opera the plate represents, when it was first performed, the name of the manufacturer, and details of the limited edition of 25,000, of which this is number 551 |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Limited edition |
| Copy number | 551 |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by Peter Parker |
| Object history | This plate would have been acquired by Peter Parker, who bequeathed to the museum, for his Gilbert and Sullivan collection that augmented the collection he inherited from his father Stanley Parker who was employed by the Savoy Hotel as a junior clerk in May 1909, straight from school. From that job, on the death of Helen D'Oyly Carte in 1913, he was chosen by Rupert D'Oyly Carte to understudy Mr George A. Richardson who managed the theatre from November 1911 to February 1915. In 1913 Stanley Parker became Rupert D'Oyly Carte's private secretary, and later Bridget D'Oyly Carte's private secretary, also secretary of both the Savoy Theatre Ltd., and the Opera Company. He worked for the company until his death in 1960. Peter Parker, who died in 2018, continued his father's lifelong interest in the D'Oyly Carte family and the D'Oyly Carte and became president of the London Gilbert & Sullivan Society and a committee member of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Sussex. |
| Production | This was produced in a limited edition of 25,000 of which this is number 551. It was one of a set of three limited edition plates decorated with scenes from Gilbert & Sullivan operas, the others of The Yeomen of the Guard and The Mikado. |
| Summary | This plate is one of a limited edition of 25,000 made by Caverswall China Limited, a company based in Stoke-on-Trent that produced bone china since its inception in 1973. Caverswall English China was granted its first Royal Warrant as a Fine Bone China Manufacturer by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2008. Halcyon Days acquired the company as a sister brand in 2015. The designs are the artist's idea of scenes and characters from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan and are not related to any production. It was first seen in England in a matinee production by D'Oyly Carte's touring company who were in Paignton at the Bijou Theatre on 30th December 1879. This was an attempt by D'Oyly Carte to authorise his copyright at home on the new work that he was also opening in New York at Fifth Avenue Theatre on the 31st December 1879. The London opening was at the Savoy Theatre on the 3rd April 1880. The characters shown on the plate include Frederic, Mabel, the Major General and his Daughters, the Pirate King and his pirate crew. |
| Associated objects |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.1081-2021 |
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| Record created | September 15, 2020 |
| Record URL |
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