Victorian Green Transfer Grocer’s Scale Plate – Lady Justice HRC c.1860s

An unusual Victorian ceramic weighing plate, originally made for use with a grocer’s or shopkeeper’s balance scale and dating to approximately the 1860s.

The circular white glazed plate is decorated at the centre with a finely detailed green transfer depicting Lady Justice, or Justitia, blindfolded and holding a pair of balance scales. This green-print version appears to be less commonly encountered than the more familiar black-transfer examples, adding to its interest as a piece of Victorian retail history.

Above the figure is the Latin motto “Justitia Virtutum Regina”, meaning “Justice is the Queen of Virtues”. The imagery of Justice and the scales was particularly appropriate for commercial weighing equipment, representing fairness, accuracy and honest trade.

Beneath the figure is an ornate decorative cartouche containing the initials HRC. Other surviving Victorian weighing plates are known with this same distinctive Justitia design and HRC initials.