Majolica Spotlight: Wedgwood Majolica Oyster Plates

Wedgwood majolica St. Louis oyster plate

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a real soft spot in my heart for Wedgwood's oyster plate designs. I think what appeals to me most are those plates that don't look like oyster plates. Like the St. Louis pattern above or the Chrysanthemum plate below, these don't have the distinct wells seen on most oyster plates. No other company made oyster plates this highly stylized and to my eye, they're gorgeous!

Wedgwood majolica Chrysanthemums oyster plate

Wedgwood majolica Chrysanthemum oyster plate

Wedgwood majolica Argenta Chrysanthemum oyster plate

Wedgwood majolica St. Louis oyster plate

Wedgwood majolica Argenta St. Louis oyster plate

Wedgwood majolica Grosvonor oyster plate

Wedgwood majolica Ocean 2 oyster plate

Wedgwood majolica Ocean 2 oyster plate

Now that's not to say that the plates that have individual wells like those with marine themes, aren't fabulous, because they are. The late Ocean oyster plates above look nothing like the earlier version of that same pattern, shown below, but they both feature shells and other marine life and are stunning examples of the genre.

Wedgwood majolica Argenta Ocean oyster plate

Wedgwood majolica Ocean oyster plate

There are also the versions featuring fish heads and of course the most famous of them all, the designs with dolphins. The fish head oyster plates are sometimes referred to as escargot plates because of their smaller size wells.

Six well Wedgwood majolica oyster or escargot plate

Four well Wedgwood majolica oyster or. escargot plate

Wedgwood majolica dolphin oyster plate

Wedgwood majolica dolphin oyster plate

Wedgwood majolica dolphin oyster plate

Wedgwood majolica Argenta Ocean Oyster Tray, 

catalog number 2837

Wedgwood majolica Ocean Oyster Tray

Wedgwood majolica Ocean Oyster Tray

They've always been my favorite oyster plate designs and who could blame me?
With such beautiful, fantastic, imaginative designs, who wouldn't love them!