Posted by Beejie on March 2, 2008, 1:34 am
68.98.59.144
Please help!The Berry side of my family came to America in the 1630's. Back in the 50's my Grammy Vincent(Berry) said to take really good care of the "Berry plate" because it was the oldest piece of "family china" that had survived centuries of use. It has heavy crazing and is quite thick compared to my 1820's H.W.Grindley English china set. The glaze on the backside is much shinier than the front side (almost matte finish. The "white" parts have an inherant grayish-blue hue. The blue glaze is very dark. Abrasive wear tends to be over the highly-concentrated blue-glazed areas. The rim has 12 straight edges instead of being a smooth round circle. It has no repairs or cracks or chips. It does have some original tiny anomalies (specks in the clay)which caused incomplete glaze coverage above them. Worse for the wear in center area of plate, but then again,it may well be over 370 years old 
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