Vintage 1940s Medicine Hat Potteries Plates Radioactive Red & Cobalt Blue

This is a pair of vintage Medicine Hat Potteries dinner plates, made in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, probably dating to the early 1940s.

The plates are the same ringed form but have contrasting solid glazes: one in a vivid orange-red glaze and the other in a deep cobalt blue.

The orange-red plate is stamped on the underside with the Medicine Hat Potteries "Little Chief" trademark. Versions of this trademark was used by Medicine Hat Potteries from 1938 until 1955, but I believe that this is the earliest version. The cobalt blue plate is unmarked.

The orange-red colour is particularly interesting. Medicine Hat Potteries is documented as having produced orange or "fiesta red" pottery using uranium oxide in the glaze, resulting in measurable radioactivity. Examples of orange Medicine Hat Potteries have been tested and documented by the Western Development Museum. While this particular plate has not been tested with a Geiger counter, its colour and period are consistent with the uranium-glazed red/orange wares produced by the company. 

Medicine Hat Potteries began production in 1938, and period research records the introduction of ridged dinnerware by about 1940. The form and glazes of these plates are consistent with an early-1940s date. 

Measurements: Each plate measures 8 5/8" (21.9 cm) in diameter.

Condition: Both plates show extensive surface and utensil wear to the centres. The cobalt blue plate also has some wear to the underside. Please examine the photograph of the blue plate for condition - the orange plate doesn't show the wear in the photo, but it is present.

Note that these are for collectible purposes only - due to the radioactive nature of the orange glaze, no food contact is advised.

An interesting pair of early Canadian pottery plates, particularly for a collection of Medicine Hat Potteries, Alberta pottery or uranium-glazed ceramics.

Please note that these plates will be sold only within Canada - no export to other countries.