Nove Rose Pottery

Nove Rose plate, 10.25″ across

This old plate was given to me by my mother-in-law.  She spent several years in Europe right after WWII and probably acquired the plate there.  It is damaged with chips and a large crack.  I use it for decoration on my kitchen wall.

I always loved the pattern with its bright colors and hand painted detail, but knew nothing about the plate’s origins other than the back markings.  There is an “Italy” incised stamp and a “Hand Painted” marking with what I assume to be an artist id or pattern or mold numbers.  So I know the plate was hand painted in Italy.

Then one day I was visiting my dear neighbor and noticed he displayed three large bowls with a very similar design.  I told him how much I liked the pattern and how I owned an old plate painted like his bowls.  Then, last week, my neighbor called and said he’d decided to downsize his home decoration and would I like the three bowls.  Well, yes, I’d love them!

nove rose bowl, 10″ diameter

He told me they came from Italy and were given to a relative of his as a wedding gift.  The bowls didn’t suit her tastes so she gave them to my neighbor.  Other than that, he knew nothing about the bowls.

I tried to do research online and have met with little success.  Pottery with this or very similar patterns is sold on eBay and other e-market sites.  The sellers refer to the pattern as Nove Rose or Nova Rose or even Nova Rosa.  A little more searching led to the Vicenza region of Italy and the towns of Nove and Bassano.  So, the pattern is most likely correctly called Nove Rose.

The design always features prominent pink cabbage roses, a yellow tulip, a cosmos-like flower, usually in blue or plum color, and small blue flowers that look like hyacinth.  The edge may be decorated with a blue dot and line pattern typical of the region.  The background color is white and appears to be tin glaze, making this pottery majolica.  I discovered the design was very popular and heavily produced during the 1920s and 1930s.  Undoubtedly, such pottery was brought home by many tourists.

Nove Rose bowls, 12″ diameters

 It is likely that over the years the pattern has been changed some or simplified.  Being mass produced, the artists have little time to do careful detail.  I believe the plate is much older than the bowls and was made when there was less demand so the artists had more time to carefully paint the design.  The bowls and plate were also likely made by different potteries and artists and maybe in different towns.  The bowls have no backstamps or other markings.

American potteries produced patterns they named Nove Rose, most notably Southern Potteries, Inc with pieces marked Blue Ridge China.

Update 11/27/16:  I have been told the large bowls were made for the mass market and are not from Italy.  They are just after the Nove Rose pattern.  I recently found some more Nove Rose from Italy.  Some is marked Pauls Italy.  It is for sale in my eBay store.

Nove Rose salad plates and cup from Italy