Rare Plate Joins City Collection

Rare Plate Joins City Collection

A rare plate commemorating the wife of our town's namesake has arrived in town, through a lucky find on Ebay.

Now on display at the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum, the commemorative plate, features a decal of Catherine Gladstone, the wife of famous politician William Ewart Gladstone.

Gallery/Museum Director, Pamela Whitlock said the plate was made in approximately 1895 and was quite possibly sold as a set with the plate of her husband.

?The plate of Mr Gladstone was generously donated by local resident Neil O?Neill many years ago and is frequently on display in the Gallery/Museum foyer with other memorabilia relating to William Ewart Gladstone.?

?A staff member was quite amazed to discover the plate of Mrs Gladstone on Ebay, from an antique seller in Great Britain.?

?Mrs Gladstone played a very important part in William?s political career, and it is quite rare for a politician?s wife to be commemorated this way. The plate is now sitting alongside that of her husband in the display case and is a very welcome addition to the city?s collection.?