This artifact is a broken plate found at Fort Vancouver. The plate is most likely a third of how big the full plate was. The plate is ceramic and has colorful art of flowers and birds on the front. Most of the flowers and birds are colored pink, green or light blue. The rim of the plate is elevated compared to the middle part. On the back there is a red stamp with a design with a crown, a design of a horse head, and some writing in cursive. There are also some burn marks on the plate. The plate was most likely used all throughout when the fort was being used, (1830 to 1860) as the plate has burned spots most likely from when the fort was burned in 1860. The earliest the plate could have been used was 1830, as the pattern on the plate was only being made from 1830-1855. The plate was most likely used by the chief factor at the time, or any other important authorities. The plate also could have been a family heirloom brought to the fort when settlers arrived there. The design on the plate is called the MacCartney pattern, a design made by John Ridgway between 830 and 1855. These plates were only found at Fort Vancouver, not in any other Hudson’s Bay Company establishment, which according to Theresa E. Langford, “Suggests that the set was not purchased at the Company Sale Shop but was an heirloom or a special personal order.” (Langford, 48) The plate shows how ceramics have stayed similar over the years, and that the art on the plates has changed. It also showed the type of art people liked at the time. It could also show where the settlers at the fort came from, as it has a specific art style made by a specific person. It shows that whoever owned the plate may have been able to afford the expensive art at some point. It also shows that people were buying these types of plates at the time, showing globalization and trade. 

Polychrome Ware - Evan by iTechFVvr on Sketchfab