3 Franciscan Desert Rose Dinner Plates

THREE FRANCISCAN DESERT ROSE DINNER PLATES - INTERPACE-ERA CALIFORNIA EARTHENWARE Three Franciscan Desert Rose dinner plates in hand-painted California earthenware, approximately 10-1/2 inches in diameter, with the pattern's molded scalloped rim and raised relief rose-and-vine border. The painting on this group runs to large, softly blended pink roses with pale yellow centers dotted in dark brown and a light olive to sage vine, a slightly cooler and more open look than the deeper-colored earlier plates in this sale. The backstamp is the INTERPACE ring oval with the two-part number X2-73 and OVEN SAFE / COLOR FAST, which places these in the later Interpace period of California manufacture rather than the earlier Gladding, McBean years. These coordinate with the Desert Rose plates, saucers, cup and saucer sets, bowls, gravy boat, cookie jar, and bud vase offered elsewhere in this sale, so a bidder can gather matching pieces across several lots. One plate has a dull matte bare patch in the rim glaze that is described in detail in the condition section below and should be reviewed closely before bidding. Sold as a lot of three pieces. Description Three matching Franciscan Desert Rose dinner plates, glazed earthenware, round with a molded scalloped and lightly waved rim Each measures approximately 10-1/2 inches in diameter per the tape-measure photographs, with the hook set at the near rim and the far rim edge falling near the 10-1/2 inch line. Plate depth and rim width were not measured with the tape, and bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs Decoration is the full Desert Rose border in raised relief under a glossy glaze: large opened five-petal pink roses with pale yellow centers dotted in dark brown, closed pink buds, green leaves in two tones, and a continuous thorny olive to sage-green vine following the scalloped rim Rim edges carry the pattern's olive-green vine wash Center wells are undecorated cream white with soft concentric shaping rings Undersides are glazed white with a recessed foot ring and small round stilt or kiln-support points, which are normal firing artifacts of manufacture rather than damage Backstamp, photographed close up, is the dark dotted oval reading INTERPACE in the top ring, MADE IN U.S.A. in the bottom ring, with the copyright and registered symbols beside Franciscan in script over EARTHENWARE. Below the oval is X2-73, and below that OVEN SAFE/COLOR FAST Attribution note Desert Rose was introduced in 1941 by Gladding, McBean & Co. of Los Angeles, California, and became the best-selling pattern of American dinnerware ever produced, with California manufacture continuing into the mid-1980s. Replacements, Ltd. and the Gladding, McBean Franciscan archive document the mark sequence: the earliest strikes are dark circular stamps reading Franciscan, Made in California, U.S.A., Hand Decorated with the Gladding, McBean & Co. name, generally placed in the 1940s into the 1950s. The brown dotted oval carrying GLADDING, McBEAN & CO. in the top ring follows it. Gladding, McBean was absorbed into the Interpace Corporation in the early 1960s, so INTERPACE ring marks such as the one on these plates are later, roughly the mid-1960s through the 1970s, and characteristically add a two-part number along with OVEN SAFE / COLOR FAST. Later Wedgwood-era Desert Rose marks read England or Portugal rather than U.S.A., so the MADE IN U.S.A. line confirms these are California-made. The mark reading, era assignment, pattern identification, the meaning of the X2-73 number, and all dimensions given here are offered as the consignor's photo-based opinion and are not guaranteed. Bid on the item as pictured. Condition Used vintage condition, sold as-is. All three plates were photographed as a stack, individually face up, in raking-light profile, and in close detail on the painted border, rim edge, underside, and backstamp. The glaze is bright and glossy, the cream ground is clean, and the painted decoration is well applied with good coverage. One plate has a dull, matte, bare white patch in the rim glaze roughly 3/4 inch long, sitting in a scallop notch where the vine decoration should run. It is shown in the dedicated close-up photograph. The patch has soft rather than sharp edges and reads as a manufacturing glaze skip or paint miss rather than a fresh chip, but a shallow surface flake cannot be ruled out from photographs alone, and bidders must review that photograph closely and judge for themselves. A few small bare or pale specks are also visible in the rim decoration on another plate. Expect light overall utensil scuffing and faint flatware scratching in the plate wells consistent with actual table use. Scattered tan and dark specks and pinpoint iron flecks are visible in the glaze on several plates, typical of hand-decorated earthenware of this age. Noticeable variation in brushwork, rose size and color, leaf tone, and vine wash from one plate to the next should be expected, s