A Pair of Mason's Patent Ironstone Watteau Pattern Plates

This pair of Mason’s Patent Ironstone plates is decorated in the Watteau pattern using a dark purple or mulberry transfer-print. The central design features a romantic pastoral scene of a couple in a garden with a classical urn and foliage, enclosed within a floral vine border. The plates have a scalloped rim decorated with four floral sprays. The reverse of the plates bears a black printed backstamp consisting of the name MASON’S above a crown and a banner containing the words PATENT IRONSTONE. Below this is the pattern name Watteau in quotation marks, the word ENGLAND, and the statement GUARANTEED PERMANENT & ACID RESISTING COLOURS. There are also hand-painted marks in blue, including a Q with a cross-stroke and a character resembling the number 4.
Diameter: Approximately 23 cm.