LONDON, ENGLAND – Small Dish

PLACE REPRESENTED: London , England

ITEM: Small Dish

NOTES: A dish celebrating the “great Twelve Companies” of London or rather, the Great Twelve Livery Companies” of London. The Livery companies were employment based and with the nature of guilds. They played an important part of the culture and development of London (and England). Like guilds they were for the benefits of their members and, like guilds, the Livery Companies of London accumulated property and possessed magnificent halls. Charters were granted to them in return for large sums of money advanced to the State. These are the first 12 main ones. There are 110 now. Clearly there isn’t one for “souvenir makers” otherwise this wouldn’t have been made in Italy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livery_company

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: plastic (melamine)

MADE IN: Italy

MANUFACTURER: Pavo

DIMENSIONS: 13.5cm x 13.5cm

BATHURST, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA – Dish

PLACE REPRESENTED: Bathurst (specifically the Soldier’s Memorial on King’s Parade), Victoria , Australia

ITEM: Dish

NOTES: The Soldiers’ Memorial (built 1909) at King’s Parade, Bathurst to remember those who fought in the Boer War. It’s still there as most Australian memorials are … one of the benefits of not being over run by other countries every few decades.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1930s

MADE FROM: ceramic material

MADE IN: England

MANUFACTURER: E. Webb & Co (made by Grimwade’s)

DIMENSIONS: 15.5cm diameter

BUNRATTY, IRELAND – Dish

Bunratty Castle, Ireland - Nic Nac Dish (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Bunratty, Ireland

ITEM: Nic Nac Dish

NOTES: Bunratty or rather the 15th-century tower house in Bunratty Castle in County Clare, Ireland. It is located in the centre of Bunratty village and is quite impressive and imposing. Too impressive for a nic nac tray perhaps.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: melamine

MADE IN:  unknown

MANUFACTURER: John Hinde

DIMENSIONS: 13.5cm x 13.5cm

TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA – Small Dish

Batman Bridge - Tasmania - Displate Plate (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Tasmania (specifically the Batman Bridge) , Australia

ITEM: Small Dish NOTES: A small nic nac dish celebrating Tasmania’s Batman bridge which crosses the Tamar River. The image and design of this is quite 1960s, which makes sense as the bridge was built between 1966 and 1968 and was the first cable stayed bridge in Australia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_Bridge

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s

MADE FROM: china

MADE IN:  Australia

MANUFACTURER: Westminster

DIMENSIONS: 11.5cm  x 10cm

Batman Bridge - Tasmania - Displate Plate (2)

ALBURY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA – Small dish

Albury, Australia - Platelet (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Albury, New South Wales , Australia

ITEM: Small Dish

NOTES: A small nic nac dish displaying the Albury War Memorial built in 1925 to commemorate those  who had died in World War 1. Albury is a regional city in southern New South Wales near the Victorian border (it is separated from its twin city in Victoria, Wodonga, by the Murray River). There are many similar memorials throughout Australia. http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/ww1/display/20038-albury-and-district-war-memorial

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1930s

MADE FROM: china

MADE IN:  England

MANUFACTURER: Royal Stafford

DIMENSIONS: 9cm diameter

BEJING, CHINA – Nic Nac Dish

Bejing - China - plate (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Beijing , China

ITEM: Nic Nac Dish

NOTES: Beijing. The familiar sites of Beijing, errr 20 years ago. There has been a lot of development since then. Errr, there has been a lot of development there since I started writing this entry.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1990s

MADE FROM: ceramic material

MADE IN:   Australia. Ha, just kidding. China (of course)

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 22cm long x 14cm wide x 2cm high

Bejing - China - plate (2)

CALOUNDRA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Nic Nac Bowl

Dicky Beach, Caloundra - Nic Nac Bowl (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Caloundra (specifically Dicky Beach), Queensland , Australia

ITEM: Small Nic Nac Bowl

NOTES: Subtle, with a serene Dicky Beach depicted. Dicky Beach is both a beach and suburb of the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia, located within the Caloundra urban centre. Despite the name the beach is not a nudist or naturists beach. The area was named after the iron steamboat, the SS Dicky, which ran aground during heavy seas on 12 February 1893 just in case you were wondering. The beach looks much the same …everything behind the beach doesn’t.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1920s

MADE FROM: china

MADE IN:  Bohemia (Czech Republic)

MANUFACTURER: Victoria

DIMENSIONS: 19cm long x 12cm wide x  3cm deep

Dicky Beach, Caloundra - Nic Nac Bowl (2)

WESTERN AUSTRALIA – Nic Nac Plate

Western Australia - Small Plate (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Western Australia , Australia

ITEM: Small Nic Nac Plate

NOTES: A small nic nac plate for the largest State in Australia. It depicts all the familiar motifs, the black swan, the local flowers including the Red and Green Kangaroo Paw, and the famous grasstree.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s

MADE FROM: ceramic material

MADE IN:  unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 8cm  diameter

NEW YORK CITY, USA – Nic Nac Plate

new-york-city-renaissance-hotel-plate-1NEW YORK CITY, USA – Nic Nac Plate

PLACE REPRESENTED: New York City , USA

ITEM: Nic Nac Plate

NOTES: A tourist trinket with a specific agenda: “Meet me Under the Clock” and on the back, at the Renaissance Hotel in NYC on New Years Eve 1996. “Meet Me Under the Clock” is a place where many people meet, a clock being in times past a not common item, so everyone would know where it was. The phrase, apparently, can be traced to  J. D. Salinger who would meet William Shawn, the editor of The New Yorker, with that phrases, under the New York Biltmore Hotel’s lobby clock. The New York Biltmore Hotel ceased operation when the building was gutted in August 1981. The Renaissance is now a Marriott hotel on New York Times Square.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1996

MADE FROM: ceramic material

MADE IN:  unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 13cm diameter

new-york-city-renaissance-hotel-plate-4