A Berlin KPM porcelain plate with a Venus fly trap
Model no. 1113. The well decorated with a "Dionaea muscipula.", inscribed to the reverse with the Latin name and "Caroline Septentrionale." Bordered by a foliate wreath in sepia. Blue sceptre mark with pale grey dash, brown painter's mark, impressed 25, incised III. D 24.2 cm.
Circa 1806 - 09, after a design by Etienne Pierre Ventenat.
This plate follows a design by the French botanist Etienne Pierre Ventenat which can be found in "Jardin de la Malmaison", which was published in Paris in 1803. The plate originates from a service produced by KPM during the time of the French occupation based on the one commissioned by the French Empress Joséphine.
Provenance
Christie´s London, 1st May 2002, lot 101.
Literature
Wittwer (ed.), Raffinesse & Eleganz, Munich 2007, no. 66b.
Cf. also: Sterba, Napoléon und Joséphine - Kryptische Symbolik einer Liebe in der Dekoration eines botanischen Services für die Kaiserin, in: Keramos 194/2006, p. 73 ff.
Exhibitions
Raffinesse & Eleganz - Königliche Porzellane des frühen 19. Jahrhunderts aus einer amerikanischen Privatsammlung, Berlin, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten, Schloss Charlottenburg, 28th July - 4th November 2007
Die Sammlung Cohen. Porzellane der grossen Manufakturen 1800 - 1840. Wien, Liechtenstein Museum, 16th November 2007 - 11th February 2008
Refinement & Elegance - Early 19th-Century Royal Porcelain from an American private collection, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 9th September 2008 - 19th April 2009