A rare and very desirable Troika T3102 Thames Plaque by Benny Sirota, who was one of the founders of the Troika pottery alongside Lesley Illsley and Jan Thompson. The plaque has one of Benny's clearer monograms on the reverse and also has the Troika and St. Ives marks showing this piece dates from 1963.
Troika plaques and tiles were some of the first wares produced from 1963 and were made throughout the St. Ives period. The Thames plaque is one of the 'primitive' designs, and like the Love Plaque is representational rather than purely abstract, and in a style similar to that of the St. Ives painter Alfred Wallis. The Thames Plaque depicts a section of the river which has the sweeping S curve and shows fish swimming, the sun or moon in the sky and houses of all shapes and styles at angles along the banks of the river. The plaque is in the usual muted earth brown glaze which was so prevalent in the 70's and used in the plaques and tiles to fit in easily with the interior design of the day. Like the tiles, the plaques were originally intended to be permanently 'built in' to the fabric of the house, but were quickly adapted by using the large 'adhesive plate hangers' to be hung from a suitable hook.
This Thames Plaque is in excellent condition with no cracks, damage or restoration, though there is a slight smudge of blue glaze on both the front and the back which must have happened before firing. The adhesive hanger is the original applied in the 60's, and has a date code of 1/67 which would likely make this one of the later pieces.
The Thames Plaque is much larger than the Love Plaque and is approximately 10 inches by 9 inches (25cm x 23cm), and is also rarer than the Love Plaque. As such, this piece would make an ideal investment, particularly with interest rates being so low.
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