Medieval Style, English-Made Decorative Plaster Plaque Depicting A Battle Scene

This impressive large-scale plaster plaque presents a vivid medieval battle scene: multiple armoured knights on horseback clash with raised swords, shields and flowing caparisons. The sculptural depth is striking — horses rear, riders twist in combat, and the entire composition surges with movement. The original polychrome finish, with metallic highlights and earth-toned pigments, enhances the drama and gives the panel a richly historic presence.

The battle unfolds beneath a Gothic-style architectural frieze, complete with pointed arches, tracery and geometric ornament. This architectural canopy anchors the composition and reinforces the medieval revival aesthetic that defines Marcus Designs’ most ambitious works.

The plaque bears an inscription of the knights on horseback (left to right): Hugh Le Despenser, Sir Guy Balliol, and Simon de Montfort.

About the maker – Marcus Designs (David H. Morton)

The plaque was modelled and made by David H. Morton, who worked in Bottesford, North-East Leicestershire, and produced decorative plaster reliefs—predominantly of medieval inspiration—from the late 1960s into the early 1980s under the name “Marcus Designs.” As his processes developed, the range expanded from smaller designs (including early pieces based on ancient coins) to increasingly ambitious friezes of medieval battles, some extending to several feet in length.

Each plaque originally left the workshop with a hand-written card in Old English Gothic script, describing the subject in detail, right down to costume and heraldry. These cards typically concluded with a note that the hand-made reliefs were reproduced from Morton’s sculpture and enhanced by a special colouring process, and that they should simply be dusted occasionally with a soft dry cloth. Production ceased in the early 1980s as demand declined, consigning Marcus Designs to history; surviving examples are now collected in their own right as characterful mid–20th-century interpretations of the medieval past.

Provenance:

Origin: England

Maker: David H. Morton, Marcus Designs, Bottesford, North-East Leicestershire

Date: Late 20th century (circa 1960s–1980s)

Material: Plaster.

Condition: Please refer to the images. There is some surface wear and minor rubbing to the polychrome commensurate with age and display, but nothing that detracts from the overall impact. A more detailed condition report is available on request.

Ready to hang as a decorative wall plaque. The piece works equally well as a focal point in a medieval, Gothic or country-house interior, or as part of a grouping of folk art and sculptural wall pieces.

Dimensions: 40 cm × 24.5 cm × 4 cm (15.75" × 9.65" × 1.57")