Trivet, 6.5 inches diameter (16.5cm). Brown transfer. No maker's mark, but this pattern belongs to the series of scenes from the novels of Charles Dickens, made by T. & R. Boote of Burslem. This specific scene is from the 1841 novel "The Old Curiosity Shop." Richard “Dick” Swiveller is a character that is initially a comical accessory to the antagonists in the novel, but then undergoes a transformation, becoming a key helpmate, bridging the depiction of the main characters that are either mostly villainous or goodly in nature. The print source for the scene came from Dickens’ illustrator, Hablot Knight Browne, pen name "Phiz." The moment depicted here is when Swiveller’s employers’ servant, whom he nicknamed “the Marchioness,” is nursing him through a fever after teaching her how to play cribbage.

T. & R. Boote - The original business was founded in 1842 by Thomas Latham Boote and Richard Boote who rented the 3-bottle oven Central Pottery in Burslem. Later the business moved to the Kilncroft Works and then around 1850 took over the Waterloo Pottery from Thomas Edwards. At some time, Edward Barker and John Mare Harrison were partners in the business; they left the partnership in 1861. Thomas Latham Boote retired in September 1879 and the business was continued by Richard Boote with the help of the sons. In 1891 Richard Boote died. In 1894 the business became a limited liability company.