Plate, 9 inches diameter. Blue transfer. Printed maker's mark for Ralph Hammersley & Son. This asymmetrical pattern features a spray of poppies with smaller flowers and grasses. There are two butterflies and a winged insect in and among the flowers.

In 1862 Ralph Hammersley started manufacturing with a Mr. Eardley at the Church Bank Works in Tunstall. In 1868 Eardley left the business and Ralph Hammersley continued on his own at the Church Bank Works until 1870, when he moved to the newly rebuilt Over House Pottery in Burslem. “The new manufactory was opened in 1870 by Ralph Hammersley, who removed here from the Church Bank Pottery at Tunstall and who had previously been engaged for twenty years with Mr. Challinor. In [1885], the firm’s style was changed to Ralph Hammersley & Son and as such remained until sold in 1905 to T. Gater.” (Jewitt's Ceramic Art of Great Britain 1800-1900) It is probable that Ralph Hammersley died in December 1882 and the business was continued by his son Thomas Gallimore Hammersley in partnership with Margaret Hammersley and Susan Annie Corn. In November 1897 Susan Annie Corn retired from the business. The business closed in 1905 and the works were sold to Thomas Gater.