Lot 136: A Set of Four Wedgwood Historic Year Plates

A set of four Wedgwood ‘Historic Year Plate’ decorative plates, crafted from bone china and manufactured in England. Each plate features a central color transfer-printed vignette depicting a significant historical event or artifact related to Wedgwood’s heritage: “The Wedgwood Showroom at Etruria Circa 1900” (1999), “The Wedgwood Exhibit The Great Exhibition, Crystal Palace 1851” (2000), “The Ceramics Gallery The Victoria and Albert Museum 1879” (2001), and “Mr Wedgwood’s Copy of The Portland Vase 1789” (2002), which also includes a portrait of Josiah Wedgwood. Surrounding these central images, the plates are adorned with intricate monochrome sketches of classical figures (such as Cupid, Venus, Hermes), various ceramic forms, and handwritten-style notes, numbers, and labels like “Barberini Vase” and “Portland Vase.” Each reverse is clearly marked “WEDGWOOD® MADE IN ENGLAND Bone China” and identifies its year and position within the “Annual Series” (e.g., “First,” “Third,” “Fourth in an Annual Series”).