My wife and I own a narrowboat with a traditional Boatman's cabin the sides of which were traditionally decorated with lace edged plates,also called ribbon plates or hanging up plates.
We started buying plates about 20 years ago and used to buy anything and everything provided it was cheap enough but now only collect plates made by Schumann,a Bavarian/German company.
Frequently the plates were brought back from a seaside holiday and very often are of a standard design with the legend "A Present from Blackpool" or some other resort printed on them.
Other common themes are "Gainsborough" style figures and "Worcester" style fruit.
Pre WW1 plates are stamped Bavaria/Germany on the back but post 1918 are stamped Foreign,presumably due to anti German feeling.
We've slowed down a bit now as the cabin's full and so are the "Delft" racks at home.
JP1147