Plate thumbnail 1

Plate

ca. 1787 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Plate of soft-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded. With a blue border with a gilt pattern of dots. The centre is painted in colours with a bird, and the border is painted with panels of birds in landscapes and with medallions with insects. The base is inscribed with the names of the birds depicted: 'Perroquet varié de caÿenne', 'Bruant de l'ïsle de bourbon', 'Pie appellé guertan, du Sénégal', and 'Bruant de brésil'.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Soft-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded
Brief description
Plate of soft-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded, painted by Joseph Mayer, Tournai porcelain factory, Tournai, ca. 1787.
Physical description
Plate of soft-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded. With a blue border with a gilt pattern of dots. The centre is painted in colours with a bird, and the border is painted with panels of birds in landscapes and with medallions with insects. The base is inscribed with the names of the birds depicted: 'Perroquet varié de caÿenne', 'Bruant de l'ïsle de bourbon', 'Pie appellé guertan, du Sénégal', and 'Bruant de brésil'.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 23.8cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'm:i' (Painted in black enamel, apparently for Joseph Meyer)
  • 'Perroquet varié de caÿenne' (Inscribed on the base)
  • 'Bruant de l'ïsle de bourbon' (Inscribed on the base)
  • 'Pie appellé guertan du Sénégal' (Inscribed on the base)
  • 'Bruant de brésil' (Inscribed on the base)
Gallery label
(07/06/2004)
Gallery 128 Decant 2003

This piece is apparently from a service that Philippe duc d'Orleans (later known as Philippe Egalité) commissioned from the Tournai porcelain factory in 1787. It consisted of 1603 pieces. The service was dispersed at the time of the French Revoloution and is now scattered throughout museums and private collections. The birds are copied from illustrations in the comte de Buffon's Histoire Naturelle de Oiseaux (1770-86).
Credit line
Bequeathed by Mr John George Joicey
Object history
Apparently from a service that Philippe duc d'Orléans (later known as Philippe Egalité) commissioned from the Tournai porcelain factory in 1787. It consisted of 1603 pieces. The service was dispersed at the time of the French Revoloution and is now scattered throughout museums and private collections. See Mireille Jottrand, 'Porcelaines de Tournai. Les services du duc d'Orléans et de Mgr de Salm-Riefferscheide (acuisitions récent)', Cahiers de Mariemont, vol. 3, 1972, pp. 53-7).
Subjects depicted
Collection
Accession number
C.1666-1919

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Record createdJune 7, 2004
Record URL
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