Royal Albert | Greenwood Tree | Pair of Pin / Nut Dishes — Oval & Square Forms | Reg. No. 774783 | Crown China | Circa 1934–35 | Very Good Condition

A spring morning captured in porcelain — the dappled oak, the wildflowers, the soft English light that never quite looks the same twice.

Greenwood Tree is among the most painterly and atmospheric patterns Royal Albert ever produced — a full scenic landscape depicting a great oak in full spring leaf, with pink tulips, blue anemones, and yellow primroses massed at its roots, and soft lilac distance behind. It belongs to Royal Albert's interwar scenic series, a body of work that drew on the English watercolour tradition rather than the conventional floral repertoire, and which today represents some of the most collectible output from the Longton factory. Registered as No. 774783, the pattern dates firmly to 1934–35, placing these dishes squarely in the pre-war period when Royal Albert's Crown China work was at its most accomplished. The distinctive grass-green scalloped rim is the pattern's signature finishing touch — vivid, confident, and unlike anything produced before or since.

Both dishes are in the characteristic scalloped Crown China form. The oval dish presents the scene from a slightly wider viewpoint, with the oak canopy arching across the upper field and wildflowers massed along the lower edge. The square dish — a less commonly encountered form — shows the full trunk from root to canopy, with greater botanical detail in the foreground planting. The green rim is fresh and unfaded on both pieces. The transfer is well-registered and fully intact on both dishes, with good colour saturation throughout.

The oval dish is in perfect condition — no chips, cracks, crazing, or wear of any kind. The square dish carries two small hairlines, noted honestly; these are stable, do not penetrate through, and are visible only on close inspection. Both dishes are priced and described accordingly as a pair.

Key Details

• Maker: Royal Albert (Thomas C. Wild & Sons Ltd), Longton, Staffordshire, England
• Pattern: Greenwood Tree
• Shape: Scalloped oval and scalloped square pin / nut dishes
• Backstamp: Royal Albert Crown China, England — pink/mauve script "Greenwood Tree" above crown mark; Reg. No. 774783 — pre-war Crown China period confirmed
• Pieces: 2 — one oval dish, one square dish
• Material: Crown China (earthenware body with fine glaze finish)
• Period: Circa 1934–35, pre-war
• Decoration: Full scenic landscape — spring oak with tulips, anemones, and primroses; soft lilac and pink distance; vivid grass-green scalloped rim
• Gilding: None — pattern relies on painterly scenic decoration rather than gilding
• Condition: Oval dish — perfect, no faults of any kind. Square dish — two small stable hairlines noted; no chips, cracks through glaze, or crazing on either piece
• Buyer profile: Royal Albert collector specialising in pre-war scenic patterns; collector of interwar English ceramics; decorator seeking a period English country house aesthetic; buyer completing a Greenwood Tree set

Two dishes from a garden that exists only in porcelain — faithful to a particular English spring that has been quietly blooming since 1934.