This handled cake plate was made by Bing & Grondahl in Copenhagen around 1950, on the porcelain shape of the factory's Seagull service, model 101. Instead of the familiar blue gulls, its well carries a single hand-painted sprig of coltsfoot, the yellow spring wildflower known in Danish as følfod.
The Seagull service was introduced by Bing & Grondahl in the 1890s and is associated with designer Fanny Garde. Its blank is easy to recognise: a moulded rim of overlapping scales, small shell motifs and pierced handles shaped as a pair of curling fish. On this piece the fish handles are picked out in fine black lines and gilding, and a gold band runs around the edge.
The painting follows the conventions of botanical illustration: the plant is shown whole, with leaves at the base, open flower heads, buds on scaly stems and one seed head gone to fluff. Leaves shade from soft green to rust, and every flower is drawn individually, so no two plates decorated this way look exactly alike.
The underside bears the green three-tower factory mark with "B&G Kjøbenhavn Danmark", the model number 101 and a small grey painted number. A decorative serving piece that also works well on its own, on a wall or in a cabinet.
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