Rare Gray Black Earthenware Fables Plate ~ Frogs and Rat 1880

Rare Gray Black Earthenware Fables Plate ~ Frogs and Rat 1880

Fontaine / Aesops Fables ~ RAT & FROG

Brown Westhead and Moore Potteries

Staffordshire England ~ c. 1880

This is a superb and quite scare transferware plate registered around 1880. The plate measures 9 3/8 " in diameter. The plate is finely potted. The decoration is based on a woodcut etching from the highly coveted Nature series made by Brown Westhead and Moore, most commonly found on architectural tiles. It is decorated in dark grey black.

The fable:

A RAT in an evil day made acquaintance with a Frog, and they set off on their travels together. The frog on pretense of great affection, and of keeping his companion out of harm's way, tied the Rat's foot to his own hind-leg, and thus they proceeded for some distance by land. Presently they came to some water, and the Frog, bidding the Rat have good courage, began to swim across. They had scarcely, however, arrived midway, when the Frog took a sudden plunge to the bottom, dragging the unfortunate Rat after him. But the struggling and floundering of the Rat made so great a commotion in the water that it attracted the attention of a kite, who, pouncing down and bearing off the Rat, carried away the Frog at the same time in his train.

Moral:
Inconsiderate and ill-matched alliances generally end in ruin; and the man who compasses the destruction of his neighbor is often caught in his own snare.   

Never Used. The plate is in good condition with a tiny glaze flake at the top of rim..