Soft and white and slightly translucent, this plate is Petalware from MacBeth Evans. MacBeth Evans is the same company that made Dogwood and American Sweetheart. They were one of the few companies that made full lines of white depression glass dinnerware and their monax white is the prettiest. You can see the blue where the glass is thin and opalescent.
Eventually Corning Glass bought MacBeth Evans and continued making white glass dinnerware. (Corelle anyone?)
You can find Petalware in solid white, transparent pink and white with many, many decorations.MacBeth Evans produced full sets in several designs, notably pastel bands and red flowers. That plain center must have been irresistible to amateur painters as there are a lot of one-off designs.
I’m not normally fond of white but this is so pretty. The glass looks thin and delicate – but it isn’t. (After all it’s over 70 years old!) The color is soft and tempting and of course, the white plates blend beautifully with other dinnerware, both glass and china. Petalware is among the less costly patterns too, which makes it nice if you are starting to look at glass.