Royal Doulton | Wild Rose (D6177) | Serpentine Tray Dish | Hand-Painted Earthenware | Burslem, England, c.1940s

A shallow tray of this kind was designed to be seen from above — which is precisely where the Wild Rose decoration is at its most confident.

The Wild Rose series — known within the factory as “Roses G” — was introduced in 1940 and remained in production until approximately 1959, featuring large single roses in crimson, dusky pink and cream against a mottled deep blue ground. Importantly, Wild Rose is a fully hand-painted Royal Doulton series, with each floral cluster individually executed over a printed base layer, resulting in subtle variation and painterly depth from piece to piece. This is one of the reasons the pattern retains strong collector appeal beyond standard transfer-decorated wares.

Applied across a wide range of shapes during its production life, the pattern appears under multiple recorded designations, with D6177 and D6227 both associated with the Wild Rose series. The base carries the Royal Doulton lion and crown backstamp with “Made in England / Royal Doulton / England,” the number 14 to the right of the crown, and the hand-painted pattern number D6177 in red.

This is a large shallow dish of oval form with a serpentine scalloped rim, formed by four gentle convex lobes that give the outline a soft, organic movement. The piece sits flat without a foot ring. The interior is fully decorated with the Wild Rose pattern: open roses rendered in amber-yellow, dusky peach and deep crimson, their stamens finely detailed in yellow with white highlights, set against the characteristic mottled ground of deep cobalt blue and warm amber-brown. Bold green foliage, painted with visible brushwork, frames and connects the floral clusters throughout.

A copper-brown lustre band follows the scalloped rim, providing warmth and definition to the edge. The reverse is cleanly glazed in white and left undecorated.

The dish is in excellent condition. There are no chips, cracks, losses to decoration, or crazing to the glaze.

• Maker: Royal Doulton, Burslem, England
• Pattern: Wild Rose (factory designation: Roses G)
• Pattern number: D6177
• Backstamp: Royal Doulton lion and crown mark / Made in England
• Form: Serpentine oval tray dish
• Material: Earthenware with hand-painted polychrome decoration
• Country of Origin: England
• Period: c.1940s
• Length: 29.7 cm
• Width: 23.8 cm
• Height: 4.2 cm
• Weight: 631 g
• Condition: Excellent; no chips, cracks, losses or crazing

A form made for viewing from above finds its full expression here — the Wild Rose series turning a simple tray into a controlled field of hand-painted movement, still intact after eight decades.