Wade collectors easily recognise the unmistakable, high-gloss glaze in a mix of blue and beige, which featured on so many pieces from this era. The realistically moulded fur follows the contours of the face.
This little hanging plaque/dish, first issued on the late 1950s, measures just over 3 inches across, and portrays a pointed, Siamese-type face, large blue side-glancing eyes and a benign expression. A cat also features in one of the most beautiful dishes which Wade has ever produced. He sits bolt upright, and sometimes has startling green eyes, though frequently they are pale. His basket is a rich chocolate brown rather than the beige/grey of the dogs. The cat – a light brown tabby, 2 inches high, seems to tower over the puppies. Each little dog was well-detailed – often, these Wade models aren’t appreciated until closely examined. The colouration depended on the breed honey, dark brown, red-brown or grey and brown, and the features were highlighted in brown. Puppy breeds included were the young of the dogs on the Pipe Rests, and each can be found either standing or lying.
In all there were eleven baskets, glazed in muted shades of brown and beige, measuring 3 x 2 inches. Although most of these are easy to find, there are a couple which are rarer, and collectors will probably need to pay around £20 for these if they want to complete the set. This range were little dishes known as pin-trays, and were in the shape of dog baskets, each containing a puppy. The Yorkie and Corgi seem to be more difficult to find than the other four in the set.Dogs must have been very popular then, as another range produced by Wade at the same time also featured dogs, with just one token cat. The dogs included a Cairn, Alsatian, Red Setter, Yorkshire Terrier and a Corgi. Each light-green pipe rest consisted of a circular base approximately 3 inches in diameter, and the pipe fitted neatly into the hollow of the base with the stem resting in a groove. They are becoming harder to find as collectors begin to home in on nostalgia. Presumably, they were deemed ‘manly’ at the time, but nowadays, the pipe rests just look quaint.
LAUREL AND HARDY COLLECTORS PLATES SERIES
Wade made a series of pipe rests, each decorated with a china dog, and they continued to be made until the early1980s. Pipe Rests, for example – when was the last time you saw someone smoking a pipe? Yet even in the seventies, it was a very manly occupation, especially amongst older men, whose idea of comfort was to sit by the fire, dressed in a baggy knitted cardigan, corduroy slacks and a pair of comfy slippers, pipe in hand. We all know the Whimsies and other small ornaments produced by Wade, but during the fifties, sixties and seventies, the company also issued a huge range of unusual, often downright eccentric products, very much of their time.
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