Societe Ceramique Maestricht - Plate (23) - Old Bridge - Ceramic - Old Bridge brown

The lot consists of the following pieces:

* 11 breakfast plates – 10 plates in excellent condition (1 plate has a small chip, see photo), diameter 21.5 cm
* 5 cake plates – diameter 15.5 cm
* 2 vegetable dishes – length: 25.5 cm / width: 14 cm
* 4 milk / coffee cups – height: 10.5 cm / top diameter: 7.5 cm
* large coffee / teapot – height 23 cm (more information in the description above)

The story behind the dinnerware: The Old Bridge and the passage of time

In the autumn of 1945, Maastricht breathed a sigh of relief. The war years were behind it, the Meuse once again flowed freely beneath the bridges, and the pottery was firing up its kilns again at the warm ovens of Société Céramique.

The dinnerware’s design—rendered in a classic, deep-brown transfer print (a printing technique in which a finely etched scene is transferred onto pottery using paper)—depicts an idyllic historic river scene with an old stone bridge. It is a scene that conveys stillness: weeping willows bending toward the water, a church tower in the distance, and the curve of the arches where time seems to slow.

For the people who once knew it from their cupboards, it was more than everyday tableware; it was an anchor. After years of scarcity and fear, they set the table with dinnerware that combined Dutch craftsmanship with a touch of romantic nostalgia. Coffee was poured from the coffee pot, butter was spread, and the plates bore the scent of freshly baked bread or Sunday soup.

In 1958, the independent Société Céramique came to an end when it merged with competitor De Sphinx. The “Old Bridge” line therefore belongs to the very last generation of dinnerware to see the light of day at the factory of old. Anyone holding a brown Old Bridge plate or milk jug today is not holding a lifeless ornament, but a piece of quiet history: a Sunday afternoon in 1952, captured beneath a glossy glaze.