Soup plate, 9.625 inches diameter. Brown transfer. Maker is the Old Hall Earthenware Co. Ltd. This pattern is attributed to the British designer Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) and was an inspiration for Alan Garner’s novel The Owl Service (1967). The wide border features a symmetrical design. Centered at the top, bottom and on each side, a decorated leaf shape is surmounted and surrounded by stylized flowers, leaves, tendrils and feathers. Four additional motifs with tri-pointed shapes, long-handled fans, and tendrils complete the design.

The Old Hall Earthenware Co. Ltd. as an English pottery established in the Staffordshire town of Hanley in 1805 by Job Meigh (d 1817). It was successively known as Job Meigh (1805–12), Job Meigh & Son (1812–34), Charles Meigh (1834–49), C. Meigh, Son & Pankhurst (1850–51), Charles Meigh & Son (1851–61), Old Hall Earthenware Co. Ltd (1861–86) and Old Hall Porcelain Works Ltd (1886–1902). In March 1861 Charles Meigh Jr. transferred the business to a limited liability company called the Old Hall Earthenware Co Ltd. This was the first limited liability company in the Staffordshire Potteries. In the 1880s the designers included Christopher Dresser. The pottery closed in 1902 and the Old Hall Works was demolished in 1904.