Masons | Ascot (green) | Serving Plate c.1945

I do love collecting lovely serving plates, partly because (clearly!) I love porcelain, but also because I love throwing tea parties - and you can't throw a good tea party without biscuits, or cake or... I've found that Masons do a particularly lovely range of serving plates, and this is just one of them.

Masons name many of their patterns after prestigious places Ascot (the royal horse races), henley (the royal rowing races), Strathmore (the seat of the queen mother's father) Belevdere (famously residence of Edward Prince of Wales before he became King and then abdicated) etc etc. Perhaps this is why then, when you throw a vintage tea party and temporarily don your top hats and fascinators, Masons is an appropriate choice for porcelain accoutrements :)

This backstamp features the printed angular crown and pattern name, with the wording Guaranteed Detergent Proof & Acid Resisting Colours which appears to have been present between 1940-50 (after which - according to my research - the wording became "permanent detergent proof decoration").