A striking and quite unusual vintage English pottery plate from the “Bewick’s Beastes” series, designed by British designer Clifford Richards for Prinknash Abbey Pottery, England.

This example features a TIGER at the center, reproduced from the historic animal illustrations/wood engravings of celebrated English artist and engraver Thomas Bewick (1753–1828). The central image is surrounded by Clifford Richards’ wonderfully bold, graphic interpretation of animal markings, creating an unusual combination of 18th-century natural-history imagery and 20th-century modern design.

The entire collection was recently acquired at a luxury estate.

THE LAST 2 PHOTOS SHOW THE OTHER PIECES THAT FEATURE AN ELEPHANT AND THAT ARE ALL LISTED SEPARATELY ON OTHER AUCTIONS.

The plate measures approximately 10" in diameter (dinner plate) and is finished with a fine gold-colored rim.

THE DESIGN

The center is titled:

“THE TIGER"

The wide border incorporates dramatic black-and-white animal patterns, including stylized zebra stripes, giraffe-like markings and spotted big-cat patterns. The contrast between Bewick’s finely rendered animal illustration and Richards’ graphic border is what makes this series particularly distinctive.

The design works equally well as traditional natural-history decoration or as a piece of graphic 1970s-era British design.

This plate carries the Prinknash Abbey Pottery – England circular factory mark on the reverse.

The reverse also carries the printed Bewick’s Beastes description explaining the collaboration between Bewick’s historic imagery and Richards’ contemporary borders.

Believed to date to approximately the 1970s / later 20th century.

CONDITION

Very good vintage condition. 1 scratch on the front above the tiger. See photos.There is some age-related crazing to the glaze. Gold rim remains in very good condition. Please examine all photographs closely, as they form an important part of the condition description.

THOMAS BEWICK

Thomas Bewick (1753–1828) was one of Britain’s most important wood engravers and natural-history illustrators. He became particularly celebrated for his extraordinarily detailed depictions of animals and birds. His engravings helped transform wood engraving into a sophisticated form of book illustration and remain highly collectible and recognizable today.

The imagery used in the Bewick’s Beastes series draws upon this historic body of work, placing Bewick’s much earlier animal illustrations within Clifford Richards’ contemporary decorative borders.

CLIFFORD RICHARDS

Clifford Richards is the modern designer credited by Prinknash on the reverse of these pieces. His contribution is particularly evident in the wonderfully graphic borders, which give the traditional Bewick illustrations an unmistakably mid-to-late-20th-century appearance.

The result is an interesting meeting of two very different design periods: Bewick’s Georgian-era natural-history illustration and Richards’ bold modern graphic design.

PRINKNASH ABBEY POTTERY

Prinknash Abbey Pottery was established in 1942 by Benedictine monks in Gloucestershire, England. The pottery became known for distinctive English ceramic wares and continued operating for decades before being sold to the Welsh Porcelain Company in 1997. The 1942 founding and 1997 sale are independently documented in research from the Royal College of Art.