CIRCA 1707-14, PROBABLY VAUXHALL

The passing of the Act of Union in 1707 united England and Scotland under one parliament and it was commemorated in English delftware on a series of mugs and plates showing the thistle of Scotland and the rose of England united under one crown. See Aileen Dawson, English and Irish Delftware 1570-1840, London, 2010, pp. 62-63, no. 17 for a plate painted by a very close hand to the present example. Plates with the AR inscription continued to be made throughout Queen Anne's reign, with similar designs also being used during George I's reign. Michael Archer and Brian Morgan illustrate both an AR example and a GR plate, see Fair as China Dishes, English Delftware From the Collection of Mrs. Marion Morgan and Brian Morgan, Washington, D.C., 1977, p. 73, no. 46 & p. 78, no. 52. See also Frank Britton, London Delftware, London, 1986, p. 142, no. 119 for a similar plate painted with the initials GR.