A really charming antique porcelain candy dish with delightful bamboo handles and made by Sampson Hancock of Stoke-on-trent. Considered a good example of the antique Aesthetic Movement and which probably dates to around the 1870s/80s with the mark dating it between 1858-91. 
 
As the V & A write: The Aesthetic Movement in Britain (1860 – 1900) aimed to escape the ugliness and materialism of the Industrial Age, by focusing instead on producing art that was beautiful rather than having a deeper meaning – 'Art for Art's sake'. The artists and designers in this 'cult of beauty' crafted some of the most sophisticated and sensuously beautiful artworks of the Western tradition and in the process remade the domestic world of the British middle-classes...These new Aesthetic artists included romantic bohemians such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones and maverick figures such as James McNeill Whistler.....Today Aestheticism is acknowledged for its revolutionary renegotiation of the relationships between the artist and society, between art and ethics, and between the fine and decorative arts, all of which prepared the way for the art movements of the 20th century (www.vam.ac.uk).
 
The dish is in excellent condition with no chips or cracks. 
 
We have planted it with cheerful 'Tigers Eye-like' winter pansies in an inner bowl which will flower in late winter until the spring. We include the provenance along with detailed care instructions.  The pansies  can be re-planted to flower again next season, and the dish can be re-used as a bulb planter or for the table. The perfect sustainable way to to have scented flowers in your home over winter and nothing single-use about any element! 
 
Our potted plants makes the perfect gift and come with a personalised gift card carefully packed in our compostable recycled straw boxes and shipped overnight throughout the UK with the option of our very pretty handblocked tissue paper and vintage velvet ribbon gift wrapping.
 
We continue to use DHL until Royal Mail has sorted out their backlogs.