I am pleased to offer a Botanic Garden shell dish featuring a Barbados Cotton Flower motif. This flower was a 1972 original on oatmeal bowls and later on plates. It was retired from production in 1988 and the shell bowl shape has not been produced for at least several years.

This version of the Cotton Flower is the first version as originally on the earliest oatmeal bowls. It is in excellent condition with few, if any signs of use or wear. And, NO crazing as is so common on older Botanic Garden. There is a very minor and hard to see factory flaw in the glaze so be sure to look below to see a full description.


Barbados Cotton Flower or Gossypium Barbadense motif. The Cotton Flower was originally used in 1972 on oatmeal bowls, then on bread and butter plates in 1976, and finally retired in 1988. The motif was based on an antique 1830 botany book Flora Conspicua by Richard Morris and William Clarke.

The Cotton Flower has gone through several different insect arrangements over the years. Also, there are varieties with one, two, three, and four flower heads. This item has the oldest and original version of a single flower with two small butterflies.

---> Side View <---

Size	Approximately 5-3/4" across, 5-1/2" from top to bottom and 1-1/2" high
Transfer	Perfect and colorful without fading or flaws
Ground	Very white overall. On the right side wall there is a pinpoint sized very pale mark in the glaze. Very hard to see and almost missed it. It looks to me like a little factory flaw that is common on older Portmeirion.
Glaze	Very shiny glaze and no crazing or other glaze flaw found
Chips/Cracks	None
Stains	None, except for a little minor shelf wear on spots of the bottom foot where it is unglazed. Mentioned just to make a complete description.
Use Marks	None, but probably has been used
Other Comments	A hard to find retired Cotton Flower Botanic Garden shell dish!

So you can get a better idea of the dish shape, the photo of the back was borrowed from an identical dish.

---> Back <---

The ID Mark is a Susan-Williams Ellis trophy ID. This stamp was used from about 1978 until 1982.

---> ID Mark <---