While we generally identify the Enoch Wood and Sons "Belzoni" pattern with scenes of adventure in the Middle East or Northern Africa, the cup plate depicts a more domestic tableau.  Under an arching palm a man leads a donkey ridden by a woman and loaded with market baskets. 

Wood's border of luscious grape clusters interspersed with exotic hunting vignettes frames the center.  While the border extends into the well of the plate on larger pieces, on the cup plate the transfer is terminated at the inner edge of the flange.  As on larger pieces, the outer edge is finished with a narrow band of ornament underscoring the scalloped profile of the little piece. 

Increasing the rarity of this example, the Wood potters have executed the center and border in contrasting teal green and red.

In The Dictionary of Blue and White :Printed Pottery 1780-1880, A.W. Coysh and R.K. Henrywood note that the "Belzoni" pattern name must refer to Giovanni Battista Belzoni, an Italian traveler and Egyptologist.

Sort of the Indiana Jones of his era, Belzoni achieved an enduring fascination in the public's mind.  An adventurer with skills ranging from barber to hydraulic engineer to circus performer, he parlayed it all into a career in the emerging field of archaeology.  Among his accomplishments was the recovery of the seven plus ton colossal bust of Rameses II, which still holds a place of honor at the British Museum.  Typical of adventurers of his day, in 1819 he published an account of his travels and excavations in Africa. Even his death in 1823 while traveling to Timbuktu fueled the public's imagination, and an 1829 publication by his widow -- of drawings of the royal tombs at Thebes -- further underscored his celebrity.  

This website contains other examples of the "Belzoni" pattern -- both monochromatic and bi-color. Contact us for a full listing of pieces currently in stock.