Dish

The dish is complete; there is some enamel loss around the rim, particularly at the corners, as well as on its lower wing, and there is a crack. The dish is oval with a wavy rim. In cross-section, the wing and marli slope towards the bottom; the wall is rounded and the bottom is flat. The reverse of the dish has a slightly domed center. The base of the dish is rounded. The body is pinkish-beige and covered with a bluish-white enamel; the enamel is thin under the base and there are burrs of enamel under the dish, near the rim. Three traces of linear and triangular pernettes are visible under the marli. There is a blue painted mark on the reverse of the dish’s marli: M O. The enamel on the reverse of the dish is dotted with small holes; the decoration is molded and hand-painted in two-tone. It has been traced and painted in dark blue underglaze and red overglaze. It features compartmentalized braid and a floral basket. The molded decoration is visible on the wing and at the junction with the marli. On the rim, it consists of a row of small gadroons molded in relief, underlined by a convex bulge. Painted decoration is applied on the wing, on the marli near the edge, and in the center of the base. On the wing and on the border, the decoration is tripartite, with a row of gadroons and a braid separated by a band. On the narrow wing, a row of bands is painted in blue on a thin fillet, separated by a dash; these elements are outlined in black. This row is separated from the inner braid by a wide blue band. This braid is drawn in black and painted in blue and red; it is underlined with a dash. The braid is adorned with two alternately repeated motifs. One is in reserve on a blue-painted background: it consists of mirrored motifs on either side of a half-flower flanked by two scrolls, followed by quarter-flowers topped with scrolls. These flowers are adorned with red radiating lines. The other motif is a latticework drawn in red and trimmed with blue-painted pearls. These two motifs are separated by a half-flower made of red radiating lines with a blue-painted core; it is set in two arched bands made of equidistant fine lines, the inner portion of which is painted blue. The background features a flowering basket. The basket is truncated cone-shaped, with a flat bottom and a flat swollen rim; it is outlined in blue and partially filled with dashes painted in red; the basket’s rendering imitates rattan. From the top of the basket emerge a central flower framed by two leaves and two flowers; these are surrounded by a flower, leafy plant stems, two of which are long on the sides, and grapes. Some of the flowers and their leaves are outlined in blue and partially filled in with red radiating lines; the large central flower is painted in faded blue, as are the grapes. The curved plant stems and other leaves are outlined and painted blue. Two red tendrils hang from each side of the basket, while two others emerge from the top. The basket rests on an ironwork-like support, the elements of which are arranged in a mirror-like fashion. It consists of two scrolls ending in acanthus leaves curving upwards. Beneath the center of the support is a plant motif featuring three curved, beaded plant stems. These elements are traced and painted in blue.