A serving bowl from the Victorian Railways, marked underneath with the blue script V.R. the railways put on the china that fed its passengers, in the dining cars and in the refreshment rooms strung along the lines. This is the earlier hand-scripted mark, the one that ran before the winged VR monogram arrived with the Spirit of Progress in 1937.

Railway china is quietly and seriously collected, and it is nearly always the cups and plates that turn up. A two-handled serving bowl like this is a much harder thing to find, one of the pieces that lived in the service kitchens rather than in front of every passenger. White porcelain, an easy oval form with a pierced grip at each end, and honest service wear to the base. A genuine piece of Victorian railway history that still earns its keep as a bowl.