This lovely antique set of 5 porcelain salad/dessert plates is hand-painted with a raised, embossed rococo scallop border. The flowers are clusters of pink roses and blue forget-me-nots on a white background.
The dark green-gray hallmark is the coat of arms of the Dukes of Weimar who were patrons of the Fasold and Eichel porcelain factory at Blankehain, a village near Jena and southeast of Weimar in Thuringia, not more than 40 miles from Bavaria. The factory was first established in the late 1700's but became prominent under the Fasold and Eichel partnership between 1848-1897, when the last of the Fasold family died out and it was sold to a Bohemian company which then used the rare and famous Royal Dux mark. The Fasold family was from Bavaria and brought Bavarian porcelain knowledge and technology with it to Thuringia, thus earning the patronage of the Dukes of Weimar. This hallmark of the ducal coat of arms was only used between 1887 and 1897 and this is the 2nd or 3rd rendition. This indicates the set of plates was made sometime between 1889-1894.
This set complements some Haviland styles and patterns, as well as other German and Bavarian patterns made from 1880 to about 1935.
There are 5 plates in this set. Two of the plates are in excellent condition with only slight wear to the center flower cluster paint. A third plate has a small chip on the reverse edge. It is not seen from the front. A fourth plate has a small crack in the glaze in one quadrant and a small chip which again is not noticeable from the front of the plate. The fifth plate is simply given as an extra, at no extra charge, because it has a larger crack and and some additional cracking of the glaze, from some sort of mishap. Three of the plates have no cracks or crazing. Four of the plates have no crazing. This is an antique set, though, that has weathered continental travel with pre-safe railroads or roads, and at least two earthquakes, one a 7.1--if not the even bigger 1906 quake. The fifth, cracked, plate and a missing sixth plate may well have been damaged in one of the earthquakes.
