Reverse of duck plate. I have searched google images etc until my eyes bled. Any and all hints would be appreciated!!

I'm thinking an appetizer plate, too. Those holes could hold picks with chunks of cheese... and maybe veggies on platter?

could anyone recommend somewhere to look this up? How do I find who made it? any history?

Looks California to me....perhaps search California potteries marks.

I think looking California is a good idea too, especially considering the style and mark.

Covered wagons don't seem very Californiaey to me!

That's how a lot of goods and people got there in the Westward expansion, before railroads.

I realize that. But it's not a quintessential California thing. It is not a symbol that makes one think CA. Oregon, sure. CA, no. CA is more associated with surfboards, mission bells, 49ers, oranges, clippers, suspension bridges, twenty mule teams, etc.

There just isn't that association between CA and Conestogas that many other states have, fair or not.

You might want to look into a company named Ebeling Reuss. They are an importer who is located in Pennsylvania. They have just many, many marks on the wares they moved, most all of them have E&R somewhere in their marks or lables, often in addition to the marks of the actual producers of the pottery they were selling. They did not produce pottery themselves. I've seen labels with crowns, and E.R., Shields, liberty bells,but all have the E.R. somewhere in their labeling. Have done a little search, but none with covered wagons. It's a stretch, but they have moved a lot of pottery through the years.

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll let you know what I find out.

I agree, it's california. But there were hundreds if not thousands of them active in mid 20th century. Most were small, obscure and short-lived.

it may help your search to know this is not a chip/snack dish. it's a flower bowl. short stemmed flowers or large blooms such as a mophead peonies would be floated on the shallow water. the holes in the base of the figurine is a flower frog. stemmed flowers would be held in place by inserting them in the holes.

usually the flower frogs are separate - and usually lost on vintage pieces.

the dish is too shallow to be a flower bowl...way too shallow. My great aunt used it as an appetizer dish...what you call a flower frog is attached to the plate...and the holes are only big enough for a toothpick...

My Mom thinks her aunt bought it at a craft fair/or something similar in St. Augustine, Florida. But her husband was an antique dealer so..who knows.