Dickens

Soup plate, 9.5 inches diameter. Printed maker's mark for Henry Alcock & Co. The registry diamond dates the registration of this pattern to 13 September 1883. The "Dickens" pattern features three cartouches with a different botanical motif behind it. The first, Mrs. Gamp, pictured in long dress and bonnet, has ferns and flowers. Sarah or Sairey Gamp, Mrs. Gamp as she is more commonly known, is a nurse in the novel "Martin Chuzzlewit" by Charles Dickens, first published as a serial in 1843–1844. Mrs. Gamp is dissolute, sloppy and generally drunk. The Old Curiosity Shop has oak leaves and acorns tucked behind the building image. The Old Curiosity Shop is one of two novels which Charles Dickens published along with short stories in his weekly serial "Master Humphrey's Clock," from 1840 to 1841. Peggotty's Cottage has pine boughs and pinecones. The Peggotty family are fictional characters in Charles Dickens’ 1850 novel "David Copperfield."

The firm of Henry Alcock was started in 1861 at the Elder Pottery in Cobridge formerly operated by John Alcock. General earthenware was produced, including white graniteware produced under the names “Ironstone China” and “Parisian porcelain” exclusively for the American markets. The firm continued at Cobridge until 1910 when the Clarence Works at Stoke were engaged. The firm then continued at Stoke under the name 'The Henry Alcock Pottery' until 1935.