Grafton was the trade name used by A. B. Jones & Sons (Ltd) with their works located at Longton, Stock-On-Trent England and they operated between 1900 ~ 1971
Flowers of the forest, roses etc are common designs used for English chinaware and this tends to create chinaware leaning towards the pink/red overall colouring so this predominantly lime green with yellow rose buds colouring REALLY stands out - very delicate with great visual appeal!
DLAT Rating: 10/10 (Darling, look at this!)
GRAFTON
Fine Bone China
Side Plate ONLY
Octagonal shape (eight sides)
Pattern: unknown
Hand painted
Yellow rose buds (closed) with dominant lime green foliage. Glazing is a slight yellow (intentional) which adds to the overall "softness" of the visual appeal.
Simple, fashionable gold gilding around the outer edge only
The backstamp has been positively identified as being used by the works from 1935 through to 1949. I tend to think the 1940's is more likely as the many of pieces we have inherited from extended family all date from this period of the mid to late 1940's - just after WWII
BACKSTAMP (Black printed) DETAILS:
(Graphic design in an arc)
ABJ
GRAFTON
CHINA
MADE IN
ENGLAND
The artist's mark are clearly visible on the base, hand painted in Lime Green and this is how the works could identify the artist (it is usually how their wages were determined, based on the number of pieces decorated)
CONDITION:
Clean
NO crazing - even using a "wet test" no crazing shows
NO cracks
NO chips
NO fleabites
NO wear to the artwork
NO wear to the gold gilding
Just one thing I noticed though, you can see in the photograph two tiny "black" dots - I cannot remove these and they feel slightly raised to the touch. I believe these are actually glazing/firing defects, I have looked very closely at these with a magnifying glass and they do look like "pin hole" defects when manufactured at the works.
