Armada plate
Photograph by J.M. Walshe
This picture is of a Hispano-Mauresque lustre plate. It came from the galleon San Pedro Major, the hospital ship of the Spanish Armada. This unfortunate vessel, having first been blown round Scotland, was caught by another gale and blown back up the channel, only to be wrecked on the rocks in Hope Cove, Devon. Having visited Hope Cove, I can vouch for how formidable the rocks appear. The San Pedro was looted by the local fishermen, and the crew taken prisoner and sent to Exeter. The plate was bought by an antiquary in 1876 for sixpence. It turned up again, after WWII, in an antique dealers shop in Welbeck Street, London, whence it came into my possession. In keeping with my particular interest in copper metabolism, the glaze of this type of ceramic is copper, unlike Italian majolica, which has a tin glaze.
J.M. Walshe
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