The Gladstone Plate
The Gladstone Service was presented to the Prime Minister, William Gladstone (1809-1898) in 1883 by the Derby Liberals as a memento of fifty years of service to the Liberal party. The dessert service comprised 26 pieces and was designed by Richard Lunn. A small number of sample plates, such as this, were made as replicas for special presentation.
Each piece was painted with a Derbyshire view by Count Holtzendorff, a Saxon nobleman who sought refuge in England following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. He worked at the Derby porcelain factory for 10 years and his work is exceedingly rare and much sought after by collectors.
The panels of flowers were painted by James Rouse Snr at the age of 81 and are some of his last work as he suffered a stroke during their completion.
They were made at the new Derby factory opened in 1877 and styled ‘Derby Crown Porcelain’. In 1890, Queen Victoria granted a royal warrant and the title ‘The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company’.
