Dish

The dish is complete; there are a few enamel chips around the edges, particularly at the corners. The dish is oval with a wavy outline. 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 concave center. The base of the dish is rounded. The body is pinkish-beige in color and covered with a bluish-white enamel; there are enamel smudges under the dish, near the rim. There are a few small holes in the enamel on the reverse. The decoration is hand-painted; it has been traced (chatironné) in black and painted in dark blue under glaze. The painted decoration is geometric and vegetal. It features a flower basket and compartmentalized braid. The decoration is painted on the inside of the dish, i.e. on the wing, on the upper part of the marli and on the bottom. The decoration on the wing and marli is tripartite, with two braids separated by a band. The decoration on the narrow wing features a row of broad blue lines. It rests on a thin black fillet, with dashed lines separating the bands. This row is separated from the inner braid by a wide band painted blue. The inner braid is outlined in black and painted blue. It is trimmed with three sections, all repeated alternately. One of the sections is composed of a reserved, repeated motif, the elements of which are arranged in a mirror-like fashion. The main motif, in reserve, consists of two scrolls flanking two wing-shaped quarter-flowers, also flanked by scrolls. The flowers are adorned with black radiating lines. The other section consists of a fish-scale section, made up of three rows of half-ovals traced in black with an off-center core painted blue. Between these two sections is a third, consisting of a half-flower outlined in black and painted blue. Painted at the corners of the dish, it is bordered by two blue-painted arcs, while the sides are in reserve. The central motif, at the center of the dish, consists of a wicker basket filled with flowers. The basket is truncated cone-shaped, with a flat swollen bottom and a horizontal swollen rim; it is outlined in black and partially filled with a latticework outlined in black and painted blue; the basket’s rendering imitates rattan. From the top of the basket emerge a central half-flower flanked by two flowers in a row; they are surrounded by leafy plant stems and grapes; all these trimmings are outlined in black and painted blue, sometimes faded, with the exception of the lower leaves. The central flower serves as a dividing line between the two areas on either side of this axis: the leaves and grapes within it are arranged in a mirror-like fashion on either side of this axis. The central flower is seen from three-quarters up, while the adjacent flowers are seen from the front. The basket rests on a sort of ironwork-like support, the elements of which are arranged in a mirror-like fashion. It consists of two acanthus leaves curved upwards and linked by a semicircular arch. Beneath the center of the support is a pearl; another pearl is flanked by two plant stems curved in a semicircle and topped with pearls. These elements are outlined in black and painted blue.