Taking an alphabetical tour around a stately home

THIS enchanting object is listed in the collection as the “ABC plate – The Sower”. This ceramic plate is decorated on the edge with the alphabet and dates to the 19th Century.

It’s actually new to the collection at Kiplin, arriving in Autumn 2020 as part of a large bequest of Victorian kitchen and dairy objects.

A is for.... Alphabet Plate

The collection originally belonged to a woman, Annie Marchant, who was a well-known antiques dealer. Sadly, she died in 2020 at just 68. In her will she asked for her collection to be donated to a museum, and after a careful selection process, Kiplin Hall and Gardens was successful in gaining the Annie Marchant Collection.

This fun tea time piece for children, has modern parallels today, although probably made in plastics for durability. This style of plate would often feature the alphabet around the edge with another design in the middle, maybe a nursery rhyme or something educational.

Annie Marchant a ‘lively, talkative and strong-minded woman’ who has bequeathed her extensive collection of Victorian kitchen and dairy objects to Kiplin

This one has a picture of a ‘sower’ in the middle with the verse:
With steady hand the Sower throws
That seed on which so much depends
Following the plough’s deep track he goes
And plenty every step attends

The picture and verse come from a children’s book written by Mary Elliott called “The Progress of the Quartern Loaf” which she published in around 1820.

The poems describe the different people and their roles in producing a loaf of bread: the ploughman, the sower, the reaper, the thrasher, the miller and the baker.

The plate was made in Staffordshire using the transfer process. This method allowed designs to be quickly and accurately put onto pottery (before this pottery was hand painted, which took a long time and made it expensive to buy). This meant designs could be made in large quantities more cheaply, so everyone could enjoy learning their ABCs and farming methods at tea time (other topics were available.).

This object and others from the Annie Marchant Collection will be on show when Kiplin Hall reopens for 2021 on Friday, March 5 (if lockdown restrictions allow).

The poem by Mary Elliott, describes the labour involved in the genesis of a loaf of bread from the preparation of the earth by the ploughman to the making of the bread by the baker

A temporary exhibition will run in the hall throughout 2021 while the whole collection is documented, conserved, and stored on site. Long term plans for the collections permanent display are also being undertaken.

Objects in the exhibition will change as the project develops, highlighting the different objects the team are working on. From jarring preserves and jams, to intricate butter moulds, and cutlery for every occasion, the collection is vast.

As Victorian industry allowed for mass production and a rising middle class, we see an explosion in equipment linked to food production, eating and indulgence.
The food in the tea rom at Kiplin Hall is served on floral patterned mismatched fine china, as enjoyed by the last owner of Kiplin Hall, Bridget Talbot (who is credited with saving the Hall for the nation) – afternoon tea taken in the Jacobean style wooden panelled tea room is the ultimate treat.

Volunteers working behide the scenes taking care of collections at Kiplin Hall

If lockdown restrictions allow the tea room and gardens will reopen for 2021 on Friday, February 5, as the snowdrops emerge, signaling the start of spring and the end to a long dark winter.

The opening date may be subject to change during the pandemic, so always check online before a visit at www.kiplinhall.co.uk