3 Franciscan Desert Rose Dinner Plates

THREE FRANCISCAN DESERT ROSE DINNER PLATES - HAND-PAINTED CALIFORNIA EARTHENWARE A set of 3 matching dinner plates in the Franciscan Desert Rose pattern, hand-painted California earthenware, each measuring approximately 10-1/2 inches across the molded scalloped rim. The wells are plain cream white with a raised interior ring, and the rims carry the full Desert Rose border in raised relief: opened pink wild roses with yellow centers speckled in dark green and brown, closed pink buds, large green leaves in light and dark tones, and a thorny tan to olive vine following the scalloped edge with feathered thorn strokes. The painting on this pair reads a touch softer and paler than some of the other Desert Rose lots in this sale, with a lighter tan vine wash and paler pink petals, which is normal variation between decorators and production runs. Both undersides are glazed white with a recessed foot ring, and the photographed example carries the brown dotted-oval Franciscan EARTHENWARE mark naming GLADDING, McBEAN & CO. These are the standard dinner-size plates for the pattern and are useful either as replacements for an existing service or as a start on a set. They pair directly with the Desert Rose saucers, cup and saucer sets, fruit bowls, serving and vegetable bowls, oval platter, gravy boat, cookie jar, bud vase, and wine goblets offered elsewhere in this sale, and a bidder building a full table should watch those lots together. Sold as a lot of three pieces. Description Three dinner plates in the Franciscan Desert Rose pattern, glazed earthenware Round with a molded scalloped and waved rim, a wide flat rim, a sunken well with a raised interior ring, and a recessed foot ring on the underside Each measures approximately 10-1/2 inches across the rim per the overhead tape photograph, with the hook set at the near rim and the far rim edge falling near the 10-1/2 to 10-3/4 line. The tape lies across the face of the plate rather than flat against a straight edge, so read the diameter as a close estimate. Rim width and plate thickness 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: opened five-petal pink roses with yellow centers speckled in dark green and brown, closed pink buds with green calyx leaves, green leaves in two tones, and a continuous thorny tan to olive vine following the scalloped rim with feathered thorn strokes, plus a vine wash carried over the outer rim edge Wells are plain cream white; undersides are glazed white throughout Undersides show small round stilt or kiln-support points, which are normal firing artifacts of manufacture rather than damage Backstamp, photographed close up, is the brown dotted oval reading GLADDING, McBEAN & CO. in the top ring, MADE IN U.S.A. curved along the bottom ring, with the copyright and registered symbols beneath Franciscan in script over EARTHENWARE, and a single character struck below the bottom ring that is too lightly applied to read with certainty in the photographs One underside was photographed for this pair, so bidders should assume the marks may vary slightly between the two plates as is common in this pattern 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 naming GLADDING, McBEAN & CO. in the top ring, as found on this plate, follows the circular stamp. Gladding, McBean was absorbed into the Interpace Corporation in the early 1960s, so INTERPACE ring marks are later, roughly the mid-1960s through the 1970s, and usually add a two-part number with OVEN SAFE / COLOR FAST. Later Wedgwood-era marks read England or Portugal rather than U.S.A., so the MADE IN U.S.A. line confirms California manufacture. Lehner's encyclopedia of United States pottery marks is the usual reference for dating the earlier circular stamps. Single letters struck near the mark are factory or decorator notations rather than dates. The mark reading, era assignment, pattern identification, form designation, piece count, 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. The plates were photographed stacked from overhead and in profile, individually from overhead and at an angle, in close detail on the roses, buds, and scalloped rim, on the stack edge, and on the underside with a close view of the backstamp. The hand-painted decoration