Copeland Hand Painted Cabinet Plates circa 1879

A PAIR of (we would classify as rare) Copeland octagonal cabinet plates dating to 1879 hand painted in sepia tones depicting ancient castles in Northern England (Brougham in Penrith Cumbria, and Norham in Berwick on Tweed, Northumberland). Each plate has a beaded and gilded edge with a distinctive artist hand producing superb landscape images of these ancient landmarks, in this instant the artist hand is that of William Yale.

William ( Billy ) Yale was born in Newport, Shropshire in 1843, and was employed by Copeland from circa 1869 to 1883, there are historical Copeland pieces recorded which are definitively W Yale, some with clear and some with not so clear in painting signatures. However the sepia and monochrome painting illustrated in these plates is identical to other works of Yale. The painted titles to the reverse are also always of the same hand as here. There is a possible loose signature in the Brougham image that can be read as W Yale, however we have to say it is not definitive, the attribution is based on the other details, painting style, scripted title on the reverse , colour palette comparison with known pieces by Yale.

We haven't been able to absolutely confirm that these are one off plates, they are certainly unique in being hand painted, but the castle subject doesn't appear to have more than one of this type of treatment.

Each Plate is 23 cm across

Marked: Impressed curved COPELAND with date letters and numbers for March and June 1879. Also hand painted titles for each piece.

Condition is excellent in every respect, the ceramic body is without issue and the painting is as fresh as when it was first painted. The glaze is also in good order.