Hornsea "Christmas Plates"

Hornsea Christmas Plates were first launched at the 1979 International Spring Fair in Birmingham, at a time when collector plates were becoming increasingly popular. Hornsea issued one plate each year from 1979 through to 1987, with the nine designs carrying the letters C, H, R, I, S, T, M, A and S to spell CHRISTMAS when arranged as a complete set.

The plates were based on the Concept salad plate shape, giving each design a wide, sculptural border around the central decoration. Each plate features a colourful Christmas scene, screen printed in rich enamels and finished with 24 carat gold. The artist was Thomas Taylor, whose work used a hand illumination style inspired by medieval manuscript decoration, giving the series a deliberately storybook, festive character.

Each year’s plate was produced as a presentation piece rather than ordinary tableware. According to Brian Heckford, around 2,000 plates were made annually, each retailing at £8.95 in a gift box with a Christmas card showing that year’s design. The series proved especially popular with collectors, including buyers in Australia, and remains one of Hornsea’s better-known commemorative plate ranges.

As a discontinued Hornsea Pottery collector series, these plates are now found through the pre-loved market and are often sought by customers looking to replace a missing year, complete the full CHRISTMAS sequence or add a particular design to an existing display. Availability can vary by letter and year, so individual plates and complete sets may appear at different times.

When matching Hornsea Christmas Plates, it is worth checking both the year and the letter, as each plate forms part of the wider nine-plate sequence. Original boxes and presentation material may sometimes accompany examples, but the key identifier is the dated Hornsea plate design itself.