3 Metlox Grape Salads

THREE VINTAGE METLOX POPPYTRAIL "SCULPTURED GRAPE" SALAD OR DESSERT PLATES - HAND-PAINTED EMBOSSED BLUE GRAPES, GREEN AND GRAY-GREEN LEAVES, GOLD TENDRILS AND BROWN VINE RIM - MARKED "POPPYTRAIL BY METLOX - MADE IN CALIFORNIA" Three matching plates in the Metlox Poppytrail Sculptured Grape pattern, one size larger than the small plates offered separately in this sale. Each has a softly scalloped rim carrying a continuous band of deeply embossed, hand-painted grape clusters in soft blue with green and gray-green leaves, gold-yellow blossom sprigs and curling gold-brown tendrils, on a warm off-white ground, with the rim edge finished in a hand-brushed olive-brown vine line that follows the scallops. The relief modeling on these is notably crisp and the brushwork is generous, making them attractive as display plates as well as usable dessert or salad plates. All three carry the circular underside stamp reading "POPPYTRAIL BY METLOX - MADE IN CALIFORNIA" together with a small impressed mold number. A good buy for anyone building out a Sculptured Grape service, for a mid-century California pottery collector, or for cottage and farmhouse kitchen display. Note the condition points below: all three plates show clear overall crazing in the well, along with utensil marking, rim paint wear, and stacking scuffs, so treat them as display and light-use pieces. Bidders should also review the matching Metlox cup and saucer lot and the matching small-plate lot in this sale. Sold as a lot of three plates. Description Form: three round plates with a scalloped, slightly ruffled rim, a plain recessed well, a wide plain center, and a low foot ring. Size and depth are consistent with a salad or dessert plate rather than a bread-and-butter. Decoration: embossed grape-and-leaf border hand-painted in soft blue, two greens, gray-green, and gold-yellow, with gold-brown curling tendrils and small blossom sprigs, and an olive-brown brushed line along the rim edge. Centers are plain. Marks, quoted verbatim: each underside carries the circular stamp "POPPYTRAIL BY METLOX - MADE IN CALIFORNIA." Beside the stamp is a small impressed number that reads as "51" in the photographs, though it is shown at an angle and could be "15"; no definite reading is claimed. No pattern name or date code is present. Dimensions: approximately 7-1/2 inches in diameter per the tape-measure photograph. The tape hook is set on the far rim and the reading is taken at the near rim with the camera slightly off center, so this is a close estimate. This is consistent with the salad plate size listed for the pattern by replacement-china references. Bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs. Count: the stacked photograph and the group photograph both show three plates. Only the three plates pictured are included. The wood table surface in the photographs is not included. Attribution note Metlox Pottery operated in Manhattan Beach, California, founded in 1927 by T. C. Prouty and his son Willis Prouty as a maker of outdoor ceramic signs, moving into dinnerware under the Poppytrail name in 1931, and closing in 1989. Replacements, Ltd. catalogs this pattern as Sculptured Grape by Metlox - Poppytrail - Vernon, listing it as discontinued with an actual production span of 1963 to 1986, described as raised blue grapes with green leaves and vines on white. Dealer listings for the pattern consistently show the same scalloped rims, embossed border, and vine-form handles on hollowware, and list the salad plate at roughly seven and a half inches, which matches these. The pattern was also made in an all-white version marketed as Antique Grape White and in a pink colorway, so buyers matching an existing service should compare the blue of the grapes and the green tones against their own pieces before bidding. No date code is present, so an exact year of manufacture cannot be given. Statements about pattern name, maker, production dates, form designation, and value 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, described only from the photographs supplied. All three plates show clear crazing across the glaze in the well and center, visible as a fine crackle network in the overhead photographs, most pronounced in the plate photographed alone. Assume crazing on every plate in this lot. The wells show light utensil scratching and gray-toned use and stacking wear. The olive-brown painted rim line shows thinning, skipping, and wear through to the white body in places, with darker pooling in others, clearly visible in the close rim photographs. The stacked side view shows gray and dark scuff transfer along the rim undersides where the plates have rested on one another. The embossed grapes and leaves show minor paint thinning on the raised high points, normal for hand-brushed decoration. The backstamps are legible but partly rubbed, with letters skipped in "ME