~ Grimwades Bairnsfather Ware “Keep Yer ‘Ead Still” 10 Inch Plate ~
The plate depicts one of his World War One ‘Old Bill’ cartoons with the caption…
‘Coiffure In The Trenches “Keep Yer’Ead Still, Or I’ll Ave Yer Blinkin’ Ear Off” ‘
The picture depicts Alfred giving a fellow soldier a hard cut whilst a shell falls in the background.
The image is transfer printed in sepia with a signature that reads “Bruce Bainsfather”.
The border was a collection of cans, canisters and helmets going around in a repeating pattern, with grass tufts separating them.
The underside has been stamped:
“A Souvenir of the Great War, Commenced Aug 4th 1914, Armistice Nov 11th 1918, Peace Signed June 28th 1919”. A second Grimwade stamp appears above this.
~ Bruce Bairnsfather/ Bairnsfather Ware~
Captain (Charles) Bruce Bairnsfather (9 July 1887 – 29 September 1959) was a prominent British humorist and cartoonist. His best-known cartoon character is Old Bill. Bill and his pals Bert and Alf featured in Bairnsfather’s weekly “Fragments from France” cartoons published weekly in “The Bystander” magazine during the First World War.
Towards the end of 1917 the owners of The Bystander granted Leonard Grimwade permission to reproduce a limited number of ‘Fragments From France’ cartoons on items from the Grimwades range of pottery then in production.
The first piece to be made by the Staffordshire firm bearing one of Bruce Bairnsfather’s cartoons. Bairnsfather Ware was an immediate success, and for the remainder of the duration of the war, the Grimwades factory churned out thousands of pieces featuring the Fragments from France drawings.
~ Dimensions ~
The plate has a diameter of 10 inches (25.3 cm). It weighs 505 g.
~ Condition ~
The piece is in generally excellent condition with no chips and cracks. There is very minor loss to the transfer and general crazing.
ML