Gorgeous Wood & Son "Marseilles" serving dish with lid, teal blue deals floral with gold accents, extravagant embossing, England, 1891-1907
This large, footed serving dish with lid by England's Wood & Sons in awash in beautiful, extravagantly designed details...and is in excellent condition to boot!
Dating by its backstamp to between 1891 and 1907 (source: thepotteries.org), it features the "Marseilles" pattern in a dramatic teal blue color with gold accents, a combination of leaves and flowers offset by geometric swirls and circles in the background. The embossing is utterly mesmerizing, both in the intricately fashioned handles and finial, and the smaller details of beading that look,literally, like strands of seed pearls surrounding the lid. Other embossed details to highlight would be the entwined or crisscrossed' band situated between twin strands of beading at the edge of the lid, and the details on the edge of the bowl under where it meets the lid, nearly out of sight yet reinforcing the fact that this is literally lovely from absolutely every angle. Even the interior of the bowl features the leaves and floral motifs in that lovely teal blue with gold accents.
This deals marvelous piece of art stands 5 1/2 inches tall with the lid and finial included, and the dish alone stands 2 3/4 inches tall. The width including the handles is 12 1/2 inches, and without the handles measures 10 1/4 inches wide. It is 7 1/4 inches deep. As I have noted above, it is in exceptionally good shape. I have not found any cracks or crazing or signs of repair, only a very small, narrow chip on the very edge of the lid (see photo above), and an even smaller one (also on the edge of the lid) measuring not quite 1/16 of an inch.
A beautiful addition to your collection of fine English porcelain!