These plates were purchased by my mother in Vallauris, France - where Picasso made his ceramics - in the 1940's. As children we ate off these every evening surely absorbing regular doses of lead from the glaze which has now been almost worn away completely! The fragrance of the salad dressing which no doubt contributed to the lead release, is still fixed in my senses. And somehow I think that these plates must have been the start of my ceramic 'awareness' both aesthetically - the easy flow of the slip trailed decoration - and the sense of nourishment and dining which accompanies the use of beautiful dishes.
