1717, LONDON

Only two plates bearing this inscription, or very similar, appear to be recorded, the other example being inscribed 'In Memory / of Queen Anne / 1717' and illustrated by Louis L. Lipski and Michael Archer, Dated English Delftware, London, 1984, p. 76, no. 290, alongside the present example (no. 289). A mug formerly in the collections of J.H.S Lucas-Scudamore, John Philip Kassebaum, and Syd Levethan, dated 1720 and inscribed 'To The Pious memory of Queen Anne 1720' was sold in these Rooms, 'Syd Levethan: The Longridge Collection', 25 May 2011, lot 134 and is illustrated by Leslie B. Grigsby, The Longridge Catalogue, Vol. II, London, 2000, p. 284, D.258. The inscription, which may represent a form of political propaganda to memorialise the last of the Stuart dynasty is also found engraved on drinking glasses. Interestingly, plates of identical form and by the same or a very similar hand, which promote George I of the house of Hanover, and which were presumably made at the same manufactory are also recorded by Lipski and Archer, ibid., London, 1984, p. 75, no. 286 for an example dated 1716 and p. 76, no. 291 for another dated 1717, each inscribed 'God Save King George'.