Medieval Style, English-Made Decorative Plaster Plaque Depicting Knights Locked in Combat

A richly modelled English plaster plaque in original polychrome, showing two armoured knights on horseback locked in combat, swords raised mid‑strike. The sculptor captures the tension and movement of the moment: the horses rear, the caparisons flare, and the knights’ armour is picked out in metallic and coloured tones that give the scene real depth and energy. 

The combat scene sits within an ornate Gothic-style architectural frame, complete with pointed arches, tracery and small heraldic shields. The combination of sculptural depth and hand-applied polychrome creates a striking wall piece with strong medieval revival appeal.

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 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: 32.5 cm x 22.5 cm x 4 cm (12.8" x 8.86" x 1.57")