An earthenware plate, printed in colour with a portrait of Edmund Halley (1656-1742), surrounded by scenes relating to the comet and the history and track of the Giotto spacecraft. The plate is inscribed 'TO MARK THE RETURN OF HALLEY'S COMET 1985-1986.' Printed on the reverse, the maker's mark and an inscription identifying the images on the front of the plate. '1. Diagram of the interception of Halley's Comet by Giotto spacecraft. 2. Detail from Giotto's Adoration of the Magi showing Halley's Comet as the Star of Bethlehem. 3. An early twentieth-century newspaper artist's impression of comet inspired destruction. 4. Composition of Comet. 5. A nineteenth-century caricature of the human fear of a comet striking earth. 6. Detail of a seventeenth-century woodcut illustrating a common belief that comets brought plague. 7. Giotto spacecraft. 8. Detail of an advertisement playing on the comet theme. 9. Detail of the Bayeux Tapestry depicting Halley's Comet. Centre. Dr Edmond Halley 1656-1742 Astronomer Royal 1720-1742. TO MARK THE RETURN OF HALLEY'S COMET 1785-1986'.