Painted French Tin-Glazed Faience Dish

(Circa 1780)

About a quarter of a large French tin-glazed earthenware dish with thick opaque white tin-oxide glaze and an intricately molded rim with uneven scalloping. The interior is painted with yellow neo-classical decoration around the rim and on the face. The motif on the face is a floral bouquet with hanging leaves. There are two holes in the footring which would have been used for hanging or display, although if hung the central motif would have been oriented horizontally. There is no visible glaze on the footring. Some of the glaze has spalled from the rim, but generally, the dish is in excellent condition. The rim measures approximately 11 to 12 inches in diameter and 2.5 inches in height.

The paste is buff, not salmon-colored suggesting it was not manufactured in Rouen. It was instead likely manufactured in Auch, a township in southwestern France, circa 1780. Although not well known to American researchers, ceramic manufacturers in Auch frequently shipped their products to American colonies because of their proximity to France's Atlantic ports. This dish is among the few French faience vessels in the Repository's collection.    

Artifact research contributed by Emily Isakson, Bard Graduate Center, 2021. 

 

7 Hanover Square

Manhattan, 7 Hanover Square

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