Plate from the "Shanghai" service

Over the course of a long career, Christopher Dresser was associated with more than sixty manufacturers in Britain and the United States and designed everything from ceramics and glass to silver, carpets, textiles, wallpaper, and cast iron furniture. Dresser, who was Scottish, was a leading proponent of design reform in both Scotland and England. His work is featured prominently in the displays of the new Victoria & Albert museum in Dundee and he is considered a pivotal figure for turn of the century design. This plate, sometimes called the ‘Shanghai’ pattern is a good example of his work with large manufacturers and could have been widely available to middle class consumers.