Plate, 9 inches diameter. Flow blue transfer. Printed maker's mark for A. J. Wilkinson's Royal Staffordshire Pottery, c. 1907. This aptly-named pattern features cartouches featuring images related to The Bard. The circular cartouche on the right features a portrait of William Shakespeare and is superimposed over a rectangular cartouche featuring an image of Anne Hathaway's thatched-roof home. The rectangular cartouche on the upper left seems to feature two figures in medieval dress, perhaps actors, on a stage. The woman sits in a medieval cross-framed chair while a man reclines on his side at her feet. This cartouche is superimposed over a small circular cartouche with an image of a lone figure walking along a wooded path. The cartouche pairs are laid over sprigs of flowers and the empty space along the rim has a another sprig of flowers and a dragonfly. The narrow border consists of a simple repeated chevron pattern.

A. J. Wilkinson was an earthenware and ironstone manufacturer at the Royal Staffordshire Pottery (and formerly at the Central Pottery), in Burslem, Staffordshire, England. In 1881 the old Central Works in Burslem passed into the hands of Wilkinson & Hulme. In 1885 Hulme retired from the business and Arthur J. Wilkinson continued on his own. Wilkinson was the brother-in-law of Arthur Shorter, who was a partner in the pottery manufacturing company Shorter & Boulton. In 1891 Wilkinson died in an accident and Arthur Shorter was asked to manage the A. J. Wilkinson pottery in Burslem; the ‘A. J. Wilkinson’ name was retained. In 1896 the company took over the Royal Staffordshire Pottery in Burslem and soon left the old Central Works. Around 1896 the business was incorporated and marks after this date have ‘Ltd’ in the name. A few years later Shorter bought the firm and then in 1898 Arthur's son Colley joined him. His younger son Guy, who became manager at Shorter's in 1900, joined his father and Colley at Wilkinson's in 1905. The two brothers, Colley and Guy Shorter were made directors of Wilkinsons in 1916.