1887 Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee "British Empire" octagonal plate - Wallis Gimson, Rd No. 63164

An original Victorian commemorative from the Golden Jubilee of 1887 - the celebrated octagonal "British Empire" plate by Wallis Gimson & Co. of Fenton, Staffordshire (design registration Rd No. 63164 on the reverse). Black transfer print with hand-tinted colour: portraits of Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales, Britannia with lion, the twin-hemisphere map of the world with the Empire marked, the empire time-zone clock ("The Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets"), colonial arms including New South Wales, and the 1885 trade figures around the rim. Examples of this design are held in the British Museum and Museums Victoria. 139 years old.