Royal Doulton | The Professionals Series — The Mayor | Series Ware Cabinet Plate | Pattern D6283 | England, mid-20th century

A man who wears his chain of office to sit for a portrait understands that the office and the man are, for the moment, the same thing.

Royal Doulton's Series Ware programme, developed from the early twentieth century, applied transfer-printed and hand-coloured decoration to earthenware forms across a wide range of subjects drawn from English social life, literature and history. The Professionals Series brought together a cast of recognisable civic and occupational types — the Admiral, the Parson, the Doctor, the Hunting Man and others alongside The Mayor — each rendered in the same format of a central portrait medallion surrounded by a border of associated objects and emblems. The series ran in production from 1919 into the 1970s, with the hand colouring applied over the transfer print giving each example a degree of individual variation. Pattern D6283 identifies The Mayor specifically within the series.

The plate is circular, 26.5 cm in diameter, with a flat well and a broad decorative border. The central medallion depicts a half-length portrait of a civic mayor in full regalia: a black tricorn hat with gilt edging, a crimson robe trimmed with fur, a striped cravat, and a heavy mayoral chain of office with a large ornate gilt badge at the chest. The figure is set against a warm pink and ochre ground. The surrounding border carries transfer-printed emblems of civic office — ceremonial maces, keys, scrolls, goblets and covered urns — printed in black outline and washed with yellow, pink and gilt colouring. The title "The Mayor" is lettered in a flowing script at the base of the central medallion. The reverse carries the black printed Royal Doulton lion-over-crown mark with "Made in England" above the circle and "England" below, together with the pattern code D6283.

The plate is in excellent condition. The surface is free of chips, cracks, scratches and crazing. The hand colouring is bright and even throughout. No condition issues are present.

• Maker: Royal Doulton
• Series: The Professionals
• Pattern: The Mayor
• Pattern Code: D6283
• Form: Cabinet plate
• Material: Earthenware
• Decoration: Transfer print with hand colouring
• Period: Mid-20th century
• Country of Origin: England
• Diameter: 26.5 cm
• Weight: 568 g
• Marks: Black printed Royal Doulton lion-over-crown mark; "Made in England"; "England"; D6283

The mayor in his chain and fur has long since left the room — but whoever painted his portrait into the glaze took some trouble to make him look as though he knew it.