A Lurking Bird

Victorian plate with exotic bird transfer print - £10

This Victorian exotic bird set in a circular frame of candyfloss pink on an octagonal plate was staring at me with his one eye for weeks.

Definitely couldn't afford it with the hefty pricetag of £10.
But I decided to go for him, him and his blushed plumage, surrounded by probably-symbolic leaves and plants.

The same gemp'um who served me when I bought the Victorian print of Hagar served me again, with his impressive goatee and his happy, chatty demeanor.

I was imagining how the candyfloss pink would match the neon pink robes of Hagar's sleeping friend on my wall.

"There are other plates with birds and nature on over there if you're interested." He smiled.

I went to check. It had been hung amongst other plates not-fit-for-consuming-food-from, but the kind that are always stacked in charity shops. The kind that come in a set of four and represent a different month.. or a different vegetable.. that type.

"No thanks, this one's an old one."
"Oh, they're not old enough for you are they?"


It dawned on me that I might be ageist. Ageist to those very things I choose to have around me.
I admit it. A piece of porcelain that has managed to survive at least a century of Jimmys throwing frisbies and poorly-handled dusters without being entirely destroyed will never lose novelty for me. I don't mind a crack, or a chip, or even a breakage crappily glued back together (especially if the repair is contemporary), it can even add to a piece.
I'm ageist, but not faultist.

How can I tell it's old?

• The style, for one, stands out. It's most likely a make-believe bird, or a depiction of a bird that the artist has never seen in his life. This adds a strangeness to it that you never see anymore (unless it's a reproduction).
• The clear touch of a human hand. The bird is a transfer print, but the imperfect black border of the octagon in clearly hand-painted. 
• Old porcelain often has a hand-painted number, or symbol on the reverse.
• Unless a piece has been in a box for decades, it's is going to have wear, from being dragged around tables (or more likely, from being shoved in a bag marked 'DONATIONS' and thrown in the back of a Volvo)
• In addition to the above point, old stuff has imperfections, just during the creation process it will gather minute faults that you wont find on a brand new piece of porcelain.