Posted 6 years ago
AnythingOb…
(1778 items)
I've had this pair of 'divided plates' (is there a correct term for that?) for 30+ years, after finding them in a thrift shop in central IL. Never have had the slightest clue what the initials on them might stand for. Decorated with the initials (in an elegant script) and a small inner ring in green with a larger purplish outer border around their rims, they're identified as "MAYER CHINA #453" on their undersides and are of heavy 'commercial grade' quality, measuring 9-1/2" across.
Normally I think of divided plates like this being used in cafeterias and such, presumably where one's dinner might get a little jostled around by the time it gets to your table. (or along those same lines, maybe for hotel banquet rooms, boats/cruise ships, or something like that...??)
Does anybody recognize anything about their initials/colors/whatever that might lend me any further clue about them??
these are called 'grill plates' and were popular restaurant ware for diners; so possibly the initials are for the restaurant/diner.
My belated THANKS to fortapache and Ben for tapping the <love it> button, and especially to TallCakes for providing the correct terminology. :-) :-) :-)
I still wish I had a (any?!) further clue about what the initials stood for. It just seems to me that the general 'design pattern/style' of these is a wee bit on the too-elegant side for a typical "diner" restaurant, still making me think they might have been used in some rather more 'upscale' dining room instead -- but who knows. [indeed, maybe *nobody* now knows...??]
Mayer supplied to hotels, and restaurants, and probably colleges/ universities. “Royal Naval Academy’?. Just kidding, I think the British navy would use British china!!
I haave heard them called chop plates too
Just a thought about these plates. I'm just starting to collect Trenle Blake because it was made in my hometown of Ravenswood, WV. Ravenswood is a very small town in WV and I have found out some of the most interesting things about Trenle Blake from local antique dealers ie They would allow employees to make personalized pieces during their lunch breaks - which accounts for some of the really odd pieces I've seen such as obviously hand written names on coffee cups. This dealer had some pictures of some amazing personalized, one-of-a kind pieces. Possibly this was the case with the company that made your pieces. You might attempt to contact antique dealers in the Beaver Falls, PA area for information about the company.
Here is an eBay page showing some other Mayer China grill plates, but yours is not to be found:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=mayer+restaurant+grill+plates&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&rmvSB=true&_odkw=set+mayer+restaurant+monticello+dessert+plates&afsrc=1
I expect Mayer made many pieces of china f0r restaurants, hotels etc., they look very heavy, so I'm sure a lot of them slid off trays at dinner time in a busy kitchen.
Found this bumpf about Mayer too:
https://putnamandspeedwell.com/tag/restaurant-china/