Imperial Austria Plate

Austrian china plate

Can you love the beauty of an object, like the plate above?  Can you study an object, ponder the design choices and techniques used to make it, wonder about the lifestyles and skills of the craftsman and the customer it was made for?  I can, and sometimes I think that must make me a boring person.  But on the other hand, I think it makes me able to appreciate life, and history, deeply, in my otherwise chaotic world.  (I have my four teenagers at home to distract me, if I take several minutes to enjoy something, you should trust me that I'm not spending my whole day this way.  Besides, the plate is breakable - if I don't enjoy it now, who knows how long it will last with all these teens!)

I wonder if this plate was created as part of a set for an aristocrat; or was it created as a souvenir for wealthy travelers on a European tour?  Were the colors and combination of roses, purple painted border and elaborate gilt work chosen as because they were in-style, or because they stood out?  Was the plate 'mass produced' and painted by an assembly line of painters, or did it take one craftsperson a half a day to paint it? 

Austrian china plate

The back of the plate has a manufacturer mark - Imperial PSL Princess Austria. An internet site I found tells me the mark on the back was probably used from 1914-1918.  I picture someone in Europe, pre World War I getting paid to lavish time, attention, and skill to create a plate much more lavish then the ones they went home at the end of the night to eat on.  Imperial was probably the manufacturer, and Princess may be the name of the plate style, although even the millions of plates on replacements.com don't show anything close to this design.  But I  guess I like the idea that this plate was made for a princess - but perhaps the plate was made for and sold to a tourist who wanted to take home a lavish plate like one they imagined that royalty ate off of.  

Austrian china plate detail

I like the 'extreme' detail of this plate, which I think must have been created for display only, not for actually eating on.  The gold gilding has hundreds of high relief bumps on it that I think would make using this plate for food impractical. (I think repeatedly using a plate like this would rub the bumps off)  

I bought this (somewhat gaudy) plate nearly 100 years after it was made for a fraction of the price of what a single fine china plate costs today at a department store, and I got something unique that resembles nothing being manufactured today (that I know of).  And now I am sharing it with you and the various parties listed below...

Click on the images to see them enlarged.


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