"Norman" is another of those patterns that unites fairly disparate images into a  scr...

"Norman" is another of those patterns that unites fairly disparate images into a  scrap book style composition that would have been perceived as Japanese-inspired and, hence, artistic. The unifying element of this brown transfer-printed platter is a spray of stylized blossoms that spreads diagonally across the ivory ground.

To the imaginative consumer, the images juxtaposed against the floral branch might suggest some adventure tale. On the left rise the stone towers of a castle that recalls the fiction of  Sir Walter Scott. And who are the lonely rowers in the framed night time harbor scene--smugglers perhaps or prisoners escaping from the castle dungeons?

A band of geometric pattern frames the oval, punctuated by floral reserves that echo the central spray. Faint shadows at the outer edge of this border indicate what was once a thin band of gilt around the very edge.

Given the nature of transferware pattern names, one might wonder if  "Norman" refers...

Given the nature of transferware pattern names, one might wonder if  "Norman" refers to the region in France or someone's cousin. (Consider Wedgwood & Company's "Louise.") The castellated tower included in the vignette, however, leaves no doubt that Burgess and Leigh intended to evoke the romance of the region's medieval history. Once again we see European elements treated in a Japanesque manner.