That is quite interesting for a couple of reasons. The plate with the gold decoration is almost identical to one of the central designs for "Sydenham" found on large saucers/dessert size plates, including the backgrounds. Now that I can see the marley detail better, this isn't exactly the same as "Sydenham" and "Peruvian Horse Hunt" but is very similar. I can say that after looking at many dozens of samples in this general style I have never seen any with gold decoration. Does anyone have a good grasp on when gold decoration was applied to earthenwares? My experience (albeit limited) was that this began in the 1870s to 1880s with common use in the last quarter of the 19th century. At the Warner site earlier last year, we discovered a dry set stone well that was loaded with late 19th century ceramics, much of which had gold decoration (mostly from the 1880s to 1900). Perhaps this one was made by Pinder, Bourne & Co, successors of PB & H., from 1862 to 1882, hence the mark of PB.
The flaw that you are referring to is commonly found on mid 19th century transferwares. I've seen examples that are much more obvious where it appears that they are using the wrong size pattern for the dish with an abrupt change in the design. The transferprint is applied before the glaze and therefore is sealed after the firing process. My guess is that the discoloration is likely from exposure/oxidation. Keep in mind too that different firms used different forms of clay and glazes. Some of the junkiest material (typically white granite forms - dishes with molded decoration absent of any transferprinting) we've excavated actually comes from later periods of the 1860s-1870s that exhibit heavy crazing, potlidding, etc. See George Miller's War and Pots article for an intriguing analysis of ceramics and ecomonic scaling over time and discussed changes in marketing/production strategies.
Tim
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