Beauty is an ecstasy; it's as simple as hunger. Somerset Maugham

{HISTORY}

What was the popular bestseller at Paden City Pottery in the 1930s?

This dish shape! Called the Regina, it was a design series first introduced in 1931 that featured a variety of big, billowy floral bouquets designed on a square shape edged in silver. 

Absolutely beautiful in design and color palette, these two dinner plates were made in 1933 and feature large pink blossoms that resemble a frilly peony and are accompanied by blue and yellow wax flowers.

In less than a decade, these plates will celebrate their 100th birthday. While they have traveled the century beautifully, they contain all the hallmarks of an active life - crazing, staining and two small chips on back, all lending to a charming, authentic shabby chic aesthetic. Time-worn in the best of ways, this makes them excellent candidates for wall decor as much as table display. They'll appeal to shoppers with a design eye that is looking for graceful 1930s-era elegance mixed with vibes of alluring long-ago romanticism.

Paden City Pottery had a way of capturing attention that way. Marching to the beat of a slightly different drum, Paden City Pottery was always known for doing things slightly out of the ordinary than most other dishware manufacturers of their day. Their glazing techniques involved sandblasting, they introduced matte glazes, used round kilns, invested in the newest technologically advanced equipment, designed a popular square plate style (the Regina!)  and weathered the turbulent years of the Great Depression with aplomb. For forty years, Paden City produced dinnerware of high quality, consistent craftsmanship, and artistic design, but like many American manufacturers, they weren't able to compete with the influx of foreign dishware imports to America and their doors closed in 1963.  

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- Matching set of two dinner plates

- Colors include raspberry, pink, pale mulberry, blueberry, emerald green, sage, mustard, lavender, lilac, and black on an ivory body

- Stamped on back with the marker's mark, shape name,  and date code

{CONDITION} 

In lovely vintage shape, these two carry all the expected condition issues of 91-year-old plates. There are two small chips on the back of one plate. There is one small crack on the front of one plate at the top right corner (measuring .75" inches in length) and a bevy of crazing and staining on both plates. In some cases, these flaws could be the ultimate downfall and distraction of some dinnerware. But in the case of these two, their time-worn marks only add to the overall beauty of the design and aesthetic of each plate.  Please see photos for details. 

{SIZE}

Each plate measures 10" inches (length) x 10" inches (width) and weighs 1.6 oz.