Summary

Commemorative eight-sided plate made by Silber Fleming Ltd, London to to commemorate the fifty years' reign of Queen Victoria in 1887. This plate celebrates the strength and confidence of the British Empire, during this period, and Australia's part in it. It illustrates one way in which Australia has defined its place in the World (and had its place defined for it.)

Physical Description

Eight-sided earthenware printed plate, produced for Silber & Fleming in London, to commemorate the Jubilee Year of Victoria as Queen and Empress. The printed decoration is pre-dominantly in shades of brown. It includes a British crest with lion, unicorn and flags, crests of Australiasia, Canada, India and the Cape Colony, portrait heads of Queen Victoria and HRH The Prince of Wales, a tableau of Britannia (coloured in red, white and blue, with a coloured shield) surrounded by figures representing the Empire (Australia is probably represented by a digger, and other figures include a native African, a white man with a moustache and a wide-brimmed hat, an Indian girl, and two women in classical drapes). There is also line drawings of 'Australians in the Soudan and 'Canadian Voyageurs on the Nile'; a representation of a clock indicating 'The Empire on which the sun never sets', a globe map of 'The British Empire/ Coloured red in map' and statistics of the Empire: 'Total Population,305,347,924 Total Area 9,101,699 Sq.M[iles], 1885 Imports 399,018,569 [pounds], Exports 1885 295,967,583 [pounds]. Gold paint around edge of plate

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