This plate is not intended for use, but was made to commemorate a particular event: The execution of the French King Louis XVI. King Louis XVI was deeply unpopular in France, where unemployment was high. The gap between the excessively rich and the desperately poor people led to the peasant uprising and execution of the French royalty and nobility.

 

The plate is made of tin-glazed earthenware. The border is painted in purple as are all the outlines of the figures and objects in the scene. Other colours used are royal blue, yellow and green. The naive style belies its gruesome illustration of the guillotine and the severed head of Louis XVI.

All the significant events of the French Revolution were recorded on tin-glazed plates and were not expensive so that ordinary people could afford them (it was obviously not intended for the aristocratic market). Collecting commemorative plates was an established practice in the early 18th Century although the events illustrated were usually celebrating a Coronation or marriage. John and Joséphine Bowes bought a large number of the French Revolutionary examples. John Bowes also had mugs produced emblazoned 'Bowes Forever' to promote his election campaigns during the period between 1832 to 1847.