Plate, 10.5 inches diameter. Black transfer with polychrome clobbering. Printed and impressed maker's marks for Doulton & Co. This pattern was registered 4 August 1880 by Pinder, Bourne & Co. Although Henry Doulton purchased the firm from Pinder, Bourne & Co. in 1878, the title wasn't changed until early in 1882 when it became Doulton & Co. This pattern is one of several variations of the "Nipon" pattern by Pinder, Bourne & Co./Doulton & Co. Some pieces have a printed "Nipon" mark. Nipon is a misspelling of Nippon, the Japanese name for Japan.

In this pattern, two outer panels of a ribbon cartouche are filled with a Greek key pattern, while the center panel is a pond scene with two water birds standing at the edge. The bird in the foreground, likely the male, has an elaborate crest. Bamboo fills out the left part of the panel. This ribbon cartouche is placed over branches of blooms and leaves.

The partners of Doulton & Co. were Thomas Shadford Pinder and Joseph Harvey Bourne. Thomas Pinder had previously operated from the Swan Bank Works from 1848 and the Fountain Place Works from c. 1852. In 1851 he was joined by two partners and they operated as Pinder, Bourne and Hope (Thomas Pinder, Joseph Harvey Bourne, and John Hope). In 1860 they moved to the already existing Nile Street Works. In 1862 Mr. Hope left the partnership and stayed at the Fountain Place Works - the Nile street works continued as Pinder, Bourne & Co. At some time, Joseph Bourne left the business. The '& Co.' were John Harris and Ernest Joban Berg. In 1877 notice for liquidation by arrangement was made by Thomas Shadford Pinder, John Harris, and Ernest Joban Berg, co-partners of Pinder, Bourne & Co. In 1877 Henry Doulton, of the Lambeth (London) pottery company Doulton & Co., was approached by Pinder, proposing he become a partner in the firm of Pinder, Bourne and Co. for an outlay of £12,000, but the money was unwisely spent and differences of opinion caused such a rift between the two concerns that only arbitration could resolve the matter. Pinder retired and Henry Doulton continued with the business. The name of Pinder, Bourne & Co. continued to be used until 1882 when it became Doulton & Co. Ltd.