Plate 1837 - 1857

This ceramic plate was made by William Ridgway & Co. sometime between 1834 and 1854. The scene depicts a landscape, which we should read through the lens of industrialization and its impact on both the physical landscape and the collective psyche of 19th-century Britain. Notice how the scene is neatly framed, a picturesque view seemingly untouched by the rapidly expanding factories and urban sprawl of the time. This idealized imagery offered a form of escapism, a romanticized vision of nature at a time when nature was becoming increasingly commodified and compromised. The mass production of ceramics like this plate also speaks to the changing nature of consumption and class. Such decorative objects became accessible to a wider range of people, reflecting aspirations of refinement and the complex relationship between aesthetics and social mobility. This plate is a vessel of both food and dreams, reflecting a society grappling with the costs of progress.