Jun 14
How fantastically psychedelic are these plates!
They are from are series of plates called "Beefeater" - There were 6 plates in this series, and there were also 6 round plates, 6 mugs and 6 bowls with the same designs, but much less commonly found.
Oct 20
Royal Doulton released some great dinnerware patterns in the 1970s, and this is one of them.
It is “Atlantis”, which had quite a short production period from 1973-1978. To date I haven’t been able to identify its designer – who appears to have designed some of the other designs at Doulton during this period.
It is sometimes referred to by its pattern number “TC 1098”.
“TC” stands for translucent china – and is the first part of the stamp found on dinnerware from 1960 on. It is a translucent white porcelain manufactured without the use of bone ash, and could be manufactured at a much lower cost than that of bone china.
The decorative pattern on Atlantis, with its flourishes and curves reminds me a bit of French Art Nouveau designs by Alphonse Mucha and the like.
The design was complimented with the teapot/coffee pot and other lidded vessels like the casserole dish having a very dark navy blue lid.
I like the shape of the bowls as well with their square line design which is complimented by the addition of a nicely shaped foot detail.
Sep 13
I was reminded of this fantastic retro design recently when I found some interesting variations of the design on Etsy.
The full name of the design is Hornsea Lancaster Vitramic, “Muramic” .
It was made at the Hornsea Lancaster site 1977-1980, where the the award wining Contrast design amongst others was also made.
There are a number of different designs within the “Muramic” series, but the most commonly seen items are variations of the round shallow dish.
Other products included some fantastic wall plaques like the one pictured below, and even jewellery (very hard to find now)
