Commemorative cream china plate, dated 1887. The British Empire with statistics and pictures all done in black line drawing. Octagonal  shape. Reverse has “Rg.No.63164”  stamp.

The rise of the middle class during the Victorian era had a formative effect on its character; the historian Walter E. Houghton reflects that "once the middle class attained political as well as financial eminence, their social influence became decisive. The Victorian frame of mind is largely composed of their characteristic modes of thought and feeling". Middle class positive thoughts on Empire produced a jingoistic souvenir industry – of which the above plate is an excellent example.