A Berlin KPM porcelain botanical plate with lily of the valley
Model no. 1054. Blue sceptre mark, pale red dash and dot below, pressnummer 22, incised III. A restored rim chip at 9 o'clock. D 24.3 cm.
After 1807.
This plate was created in a somewhat modified version based on the order of Joséphine, which was executed at KPM in the years 1806/07. This order, first published in 1997, describes exactly the decoration of all 72 dessert plates: "Soixante doux assiettes à dessert, bord chamois avec arabesques en or fond blanc, sur lequel est peinte une plante de couleur naturelle, dont le nom se trouve au revers du fond". Each plate of this first order was painted with a naturalistic flower according to a printed model in the best manufactory quality. The borders of each of the pieces were decorated with repeating gilt etched Classical motifs on a buff background. The botanical name of the plant was written in black script on the underside of the plates. On the plate presented here, the border is adorned with ivy twined around a golden staff.
Literature
For more on the service for Joséphine see cat. L'Impératrice Joséphine et les sciences naturelles, Musée national des châteaux de Malmaison et Bois-Préau, 1997.
For the plates of this kind in the service see Wittwer (ed.), Raffinesse & Eleganz Königliche Porzellane des 19. Jahrhunderts aus der Twinight Collection New York, Munich 2007, cat. no. 65, p. 257 ff.