The west midlands includes material from Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Solihull, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sandwell and Worcestershire.
The dish was made in Staffordshire in about 1670 and features the Duke of York (later James II) and his wife, Anne Hyde. It also has the potter's signature, Thomas Toft, which is believed to be that of Thomas Toft senior. Thomas Toft was an prominent potter in the Staffordshire area in the mid-seventeenth century.
The Ashmolean holds a variety of objects from the west midlands ncluding the following examples:
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Dish by Thomas Toft, 43.4cm in diameter (AN1949.343)
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Sarah Glover
July 2012