Antique Sarreguemines France Four Faience Plates Alsace Pattern
This is a pretty group of four plates made by Utzschneider & Cie in Sarreguemines, France. Each one shows a charming, colorful transfer of people in Alsace dressed in their regional clothing and engaged in their daily activities. The rims are scalloped and the designs around the lips are very colorful, as well. They picture four coats of arms against a backdrop of hops flowers and leaves draped on a fence with a somewhat Chinoiserie design.
The backstamp on the underside of the plates has a crowned banner with the pattern name "Alsace" and the abbreviation for the company name "U and Cie" with "Sarreguemines" curved below. Utzschneider & Cie used a wide variety of marks; this one is undocumented in all the references we checked, but there are similar marks that were used circa 1900, which is when these plates were probably made.
In order of our photos, here are the translations of the French title on each:
>"Ober Seebach près Wissembourg" French for "Oberseebach near Wissembourg," a town in Alsace, illustrated by a young man chatting with a young lady who has come to draw water in her bucket. The transfer has fine crazing and the underside is faintly discolored.
>"Nieder Seebach Wissembourg"...Niederseebach is a town in the canton of Wissembourg in Alsace, illustrated with a seated man drinking a glass of red wine while talking to a woman. This plate has fine crazing and the glossy top glaze is worn in spots.
> "Kochersberg côté de Benfeld de Strasbourg a Schlestadt" translates to "Kochersberg side of Benfeld from Strasbourg to Schlestadt"...all regions and cities in Alsace. The illustration depicts a woman with her son, who is giving food to an itinerant man with a cane and a sack on his back. Plate has no crazing but has discoloration on the back.
>"Environs de Barr Gertwiller" French for "the surroundings of Barr-gertwiller," yet another town in Alsace. This plate depicts a view of a young male grape picker talking to a young woman seated on a stone wall with a bottle of wine in a basket at her feet. There is a woman grape picker in the background and a castle on a hill. This plate has an unobtrusive 1/2 inch long fine hairline on the front that is 1 1/2 inches long on the underside. There is fine crazing present and discoloration on the underside.
Other than what we've mentioned above, none of the plates have chips, cracks or other damage. They measure 8 inches in diameter and weigh 10 ounces each. This country French group of plates looks wonderful hanging on a wall, on shelves or plate racks or as a table setting.
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