Serving plate, blue transfer. Printed maker's mark for Sampson Smith and pattern registration number for 1885. This lovely pattern features a sheet of stylized flowering branches beneath Japanese flower mon and Japanese fan cartouches depicting fish. The molded handles and border are gilded.

Sampson Smith’s pottery in Longton, Staffordshire, made earthenware dogs, jugs, and figures, most of which were unmarked. In the early 20th century the factory began to make china, and c. 1918 it became a limited company. In the 1920s Sampson Smith Ltd began to promote its wares at Wetley China, and thereafter used terms such as ‘Old Royal China’ and ‘Wetley Rose.’ The term ‘bone china’ was introduced c. 1945 and used until the factory closed in 1963.