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Neville, the plate I showed is # 94. "327" is the product number, P.S. stands for Plateelbakkerij Schoonhoven, a ceramics company that was founded in 1920 bij Tijs Visser and his father in law and is still in operation today. Because the ABO and DTD medals were only issued from the 1920's there is no doubt that these plates are post war. Given the year of establishment and the fact that the plate is the company's 327th product, I think it is fair to conclude that "1939" indeed stands for the year of production.
Everhard

Thank you Everhard.

This hand-painted Belgian plate was presented to Josef Wafelaer, of Mechelen [Malines], Flanders, by his friend Jo Suetens, on 19 March 1900. Wafelaer was known for his large collection of antiques, which was sold after his death in 1903. An advertisement for the auction, held on 19 November 1903, reads:

Catalogue of a superb collection of antique paintings, prints, porcelain, crystal and other objects left by the late Mr. Joseph Wafelaer of Mechelen. The public sale of this collection will be held at his funeral [mortuaire], 7 Rue Etroite, Mechelen , on November 19, 1903, by the ministry of F. Cluydts, notaire, Mechelen, and under the direction of Mr. Ph Van Den Avond, Bailles-de-Fer. Private viewing: Sunday, November 15th; public viewing: Monday, 16 November. 45 lots.

The plate was hand painted by Jo Suetens' wife, Maria Suetens-Andries, who continued to work as an artist until at least 1924. Joannes Josephus Ferdinandus Wafelaer was Commandant of the Mechelen Civil Guard and director of the Mechelen Fish Market. At the age of 29 he was awarded a silver medal for saving an 8-year-old child from the Dijle in Mechelen on 17 August 1861.

A register of 1834 shows that the Wafelaer family owned half of the area now known as "Vismarkt" or "Fish Market". 7 Rue Etroite [now 7 Nauwstraat], the location of Josef's "mortuaire", was one of the properties owned by the family at that time. The rear façade of No 7 overlooks the Dijle, from which Josef saved the 8-year-old from drowning. Nos 5 & 7 at one time comprised a single townhouse, which was known as "Vijf Haringen". The shop front (see Google Street View image below) was added after Josef's death.


Portrait of Josef Wafelaer under the crossed flags of Belgium and the Transvaal Republic. Beneath this the words and music of the Transvaal Volkslied. Inscribed: "Aan mijnen vriend Josef Wafelaer / Jo Suetens / 19.3.1900" ("To my friend Joseph Wafelaer, Jo Suetens, 19.3.1900"). Signed "MARIA ANDRIES". Unique.

The subject matter of the plate indicates that Wafelaer and Suetens were both ardent pro-Boers.







7 Rue Etroite [Nauwstraat], Mechelen, described as the location of Josef Wafelaer's "mortuaire" in 1903. As the Wafelaer family are known to have been the owners of this property in 1834, it seems likely that this was Josef's residence. The shop front was added during the early 20th century, after his death. Google Street View 2020.




Map showing Nos 5 & 7 Nauwstraat [Rue Etroite], overlooking the Dijle. These once comprised a single townhouse known as "Vijf Haringen", owned by the Wafelaer family.




Nauwstraat 7: De Gulden Sleutel, later part of De Vijf Haringen

De Gulden Sleutel is a single-family house with three floors and three bays under a saddle roof. The town house has a plastered and white-painted cornice facade with arched upper windows in a strapped frame, fitted with cast iron railings from the 19th century. The beautifully finished bluestone Louis XV mirror arch door frame has a wide profiled course with plinth blocks, bearded mask head as keystone and rock motifs in the spandrels under a crowning corniced drip moulding.

The ground floor is characterised by a beautiful and well-preserved blue-painted wooden display window with Art Nouveau influences from the early 20th century with a beautiful back glass painting with "Jos Ploegaerts" on the lintel between fish, leaf and shell motifs on piers. The bluestone plinth is enlivened by white and green faience tiling. There is a frieze of closed scaffolding holes under a renewed cornice. The brick rear façade looks out onto the Dijle and has rectangular windows.

Stadswoning De Vijf Haringen







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Returning to England, the pieces below show that Chelsea-based art potter Horace W. Elliott was captivated by Baden-Powell's exploits in Mafeking. As they were hand-thrown, every jug and pot his studio produced was unique. [Ed. Horace Elliott did not have his own studio, but instead had his designs made at such potteries as Denby, Ewenny and C.H. Brannam. The ABW pieces were made at Denby]. Elliott was a member of the Arts and Crafts movement, having a showroom in Bayswater, London. Baden-Powell is known to have been one of his customers.

The jugs are decorated with various inscriptions, the most exhaustive that I have seen being:

"A tribute of admiration to British pluck and endurance / BP The Heroic Defender of Mafeking / 'Sit tight and shoot straight', / Telegram from Colonel Baden-Powell October 21st 1899. / 'All well: Four hours bombardment One Dog Killed'. / Here he is on the handle! / Telegram from Mafeking April 20th 1900. / 'We can stick it for two months or more: All well Nobody minds'. / Eloff taken prisoner May 12th. 'Good evening commandant, won't you come in and have some dinner?' / Mafeking Relieved May 17th 1900 by Colonels Mahon and Plumer. / God save the Queen!"

The name "Creaky" is inscribed on the dog's collar.

The examples with Baden-Powell's signature are a little later, being made from around mid-November 1900 onwards (when Elliott asked Mrs Baden-Powell, B-P's mother, for a copy of her son's signature). After producing the first batch in May/June, Elliott returned to the design in October 1900. Baden-Powell's mother wrote to Elliott on 23 Oct 1900, saying "Mrs Baden-Powell is glad to learn by Mr Elliott's letter of 19th Oct. that he is getting ready some more 'Baden-Powell' cups". (Gray, J., 2024, p. 229).

Base with impressed fleur-de-lys trademark, and: "ELLIOTT LONDON". The jugs come in various sizes, ranging from 172 to 184 mm in height.














The "little pots" (93 to 98 mm high) are necessarily decorated with much shorter inscriptions: "This little pot was made / about the same time that Colonel Mahon / marched into Mafeking with the / relieving force on the morning of / Thursday May 17th 1900 / God save the Queen and bless B=P".
Similar pots were made to commemorate the relief of Ladysmith and the taking of Pretoria. I have seen some of these signed S. Simms, suggesting that they were not thrown by Elliott. [Ed. Jonathan Gray believes S. Simms could have been a retailer and not a potter. He also points out that Elliott is unlikely to have thrown the pots himself, though he did apply the decoration — the graffito inscriptions are in his hand].









Morning Post, 14th June 1900

PATRIOTIC POTTERY.

Mr Horace Elliott, 78 Queen’s Road, Chelsea, London, has produced some pieces of pottery as mementos of interesting events in the South African Campaign.

One series of little pots, in a pleasant blue, bears the following inscription on the one side: “ ‘Mafeking Relieved’. God Save the Queen and Bless B-P”, and the other: “This little pot was made a few hours after Colonel Mahon marched into Mafeking on Thursday morning, May 17, 1900”. On a pint pot with cream stoneware body, decorated in the German style, with blue lines in relief, having a dog with the word “Creaky” on the collar as handle, there is on one side the monogram B-P, with the following words: “The heroic defender of Mafeking. ‘Sit tight and shoot straight’. Telegram from Col. Baden-Powell, Mafeking, Oct. 21st, 1899: ‘All well. Four hours’ bombardment. One dog killed’. Here he is on the handle”; and the other: “Telegram from Mafeking, April 20th: ‘We can stick it for two months more. All well. Nobody minds’. Mafeking relieved May 17th, 1900. God Save the Queen”.

The fall of Pretoria is commemorated in another series of little pots, which have the following, among other, words: “Honor et gloria, / Long reign Victoria, / We’ve taken Pretoria, / God Save the Queen!”

Of course, only a limited number of these pieces are produced.







This impressive wash basin (nearly 40 cm in diameter) was part of a "Mafeking" bedroom set made for the then Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII). Due to the size of the pot and the likelihood of damage occurring during firing, Elliott made an extra piece, which he kept as a souvenir. The bowl is decorated with the inscription "This bowl was made during the siege of Mafeking; and was decorated and inscribed a few days after the town was RELIEVED by Colonel Mahon DSO on Thursday morning May 17th 1900" "CURVED IS THE LINE OF BEAUTY: Follow the straight line = thou shalt see = the CURVED will ever follow thee. Straight is the line of DUTY".

On the base, Elliott has added: "This bowl was made as wash hand basin for a set of bedroom ware for the Prince of Wales' household; / and being an odd piece made over I took it for a Mafeking souvenir. / Horace Elliott, / May 25th 1900".

Presumably, a complete set resides in the Royal Collection.









The only known photograph of Horace Elliott (second from right), taken outside Ewenny Pottery in 1896. © Caitlin Jenkins, Ewenny Pottery.


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Hi Neville,

Thank you for posting the photos of the large Elliott Mafeking jugs. I have a number of these, all different with regard to size and decoration. As far as you know were these all unique? Do the small Elliott Mafeking and Pretoria pots show similar variation ?

Here is another Pretoria variant.

Hi Paul,

I have photographs of twelve examples and no two are identical. Some come close, but on detailed examination there is always a subtle difference. Elliott's entire output was hand thrown, and there doesn't seem to have been any concerted effort to achieve conformity. Indeed, as an Arts & Crafts studio pottery, I imagine differences were seen as a positive. So, in answer to your question, I would say they are all unique.

The handles and various sprigs (the "VRI" & "BP" motifs, and B.P.'s signature) should show conformity as these were made in moulds.

The weirdest example I have has much thinner walls than the others and is therefore very light. Where the sprigs and handle have been added, the walls have caved in slightly (very apparent inside the jug), and the "BP" motif is way off centre. The base is not glazed. I have wondered whether this could be an early trial piece.

The pots are indeed all different.



The odd, thin-walled example. For this photograph, the jug was rotated slightly, with the handle brought closer to the viewer. In reality, the "BP" sprig is much further to the right.






Five examples in another private collection, all showing variations. The bottom right jug looks like it could be similar in construction to the thin-walled piece posted above (it is bulging slightly, suggesting it has weak walls). Note that two of the pieces don't appear to have the "VRI" sprigs, though these might be off-centre and therefore hidden from view.


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