Vintage Royal Visit to Canada Plate – King George VI Queen Elizabeth, Nine Provincial Shields, Red Transferware, Maddock Ivory, England 1939

In May 1939 a reigning monarch set foot on Canadian soil for the first time. George VI and Queen Elizabeth crossed the Dominion for a month — and for three days that May, this plate's story ran through Ottawa: the King granting royal assent in person in the Senate chamber, and on the 21st, the unveiling of the National War Memorial, where the couple stepped off the dais and walked unannounced into a crowd of ten thousand Great War veterans. The royal walkabout, now a fixture of monarchy everywhere, was born in Ottawa that afternoon. Three months later came the war; Canada declared it separately, as a nation — historians have long credited this tour with helping make that possible.

The plate maps the country that welcomed them. Around the pink-red transferware rim run nine provincial shields — Manitoba's bison to Saskatchewan's wheat sheaves — linked by maple vines, wild roses, thistle, shamrock and daffodil beneath a Dominion of Canada banner. Nine, not ten: Newfoundland would not join until 1949, so the border is a heraldic snapshot of Canada on the eve of everything changing. At the centre, the King in uniform and the Queen in tiara and pearls — the same smiling face that appears, fifty-one years older, on this shop's Queen Mother loving cup.

The crowned backstamp reads Royal Ivory, John Maddock & Sons Ltd — the Burslem house whose sturdy ivory-glazed ware crossed the Atlantic by the crate in these years; this plate was very likely first sold in a Canadian department store during tour fever. A generous square gadroon-edged form that hangs with real presence.

• Type: Commemorative Plate
• Maker: John Maddock & Sons Ltd (Royal Ivory), Burslem, England
• Era: 1939 (dated on face; nine-province border pre-1949)
• Pattern: Red/pink transfer double portrait, nine provincial shields, maple and four-nation florals
• Shape: Rounded square, gadroon beaded edge
• Size: ~10.5" / 26.5 cm (approximate)
• Material: Ivory-glazed earthenware
• Markings: Crowned Royal Ivory, John Maddock & Sons Ltd, Made in England

Condition
Good vintage condition with honest age: fine allover crazing typical of the ivory body, and a few scattered pale tan spots near the front rim, disclosed in close-up photos. The red transfer remains deep and crisp, with no chips, cracks, or repairs; pricing reflects the crazing. Please review all photos as part of the condition record.

Ships carefully packed from Canada. Combined shipping available. Orders to the United States ship duty-paid — all import duties are prepaid, so US buyers pay no extra fees on delivery.
Questions welcome — happy to provide additional photos of the mark or any area under direct light.

𓆡𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞
𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/RabbitholeAntique/search?search_query=Canada

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒚 — 𝒉𝒆𝒓 1990 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒖𝒑 & 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/RabbitholeAntique/search?search_query=Queen+Mother

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈'𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 1937 — 𝒈𝒆𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒗𝒊 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/RabbitholeAntique/search?search_query=George+VI

𝒓𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 & 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔 — 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/RabbitholeAntique?section_id=58126708

𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒃𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒚:
https://rabbitholeantique.com/