Empire Ware England Shelton Ivory 22K Gold Chintz Playing Card Candy Dresser Vanity Tray

Manufactured by Empire Porcelain Company, Empire Works, Shelton, Hanley, Stoke on Trent in July 1947, this elegant double tray with handle is decorated in the Chintz Empire Shelton Ivory design.  Lush 22K gold trim embellishes the piece featuring elegant vignettes of Greco Roman Goddesses.

Although research indicates it was originally manufactured as a relish dish, as a typical accompaniment to the dining table at the time, the size and design makes this tray perfect for so many other uses:  candy dish, playing card tray, vanity dresser tray, nut or condiment dish.  The tray is marked Empire England on the back and B 7 47 which indicates it was manufactured in July of 1947 based on Empire's numbering system with the B indicating it was manufactured under Britain's Wartime Concentration Scheme.  There is light wear to the gold embellishment trim, but no cracks, chips, or any other visible damage to the piece.  The tray measures approximately 7-1/2 inches long by 4-3/4 inches wide by almost 1 one inch deep not including the 2 inch tall handle.

Empire Ware began life as Empire Works, producing earthenware and porcelain in 1896 in Stoke-on-Trent.  The company lasted through the decades reinventing themselves a few times until the works became too difficult to modernize which ultimately led to their closure in 1967.  The Empire Porcelain Co Ltd was an important producer of domestic and ornamental earthenware and china for the middle of the market.  In the late-1920's and 1930's the company produced interesting art deco-style tableware and notable art deco ornamental wares decorated using the drip glaze technique.  Chinz-decorated wares were produced in the 1940's and 1950's.

The Second World War proved a particularly difficult period for the British pottery industry because severe restrictions were placed on the production of decorated pottery.  Production was concentrated in a reduced number of factories in order to save materials, energy and labor as these were needed elsewhere for the war.  This "concentration" of the industry was a restructuring to allow people to leave the the pottery trade to work in the armed forces or industries in demand for the war effort since decorated pottery required a lot of man-hours and energy costs for extra firing in the kilns which were luxuries generally denied to the home market.  Some production was continued for sale abroad in order to earn foreign currency for the war effort while the domestic market had to become used to plain, undecorated tableware.  The process was initiated in the autumn of 1941, but by the summer of 1942 they were extended to restrict the sale of decorated pottery in the home market.  Some restrictions were relaxed in 1945 and subsequent years but they were not fully lifted until August 1952.  In 1942, maximum retail prices were set and letters such as A, B, or C incorporated in the backstamp.  The Scheme was revised in 1945 as the 'Domestic Pottery Manufacture and Supply Order' and additional letter groups BY, CY and CZ were created.