Skip to main content

Plateau carré: C.18-1961

An image of Tray

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

Alternative views

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 26 (Lower Marlay)

Titles

Plateau carré

Maker(s)

Factory: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Painter: Evans, Etienne (Probably)

Entities

  • Tray
  • Factory name: plateau carré

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain tray, decorated with a bleu céleste ground, painting in enamels, and gilding: two birds carrying branches.

Soft-paste porcelain decorated with bleu céleste ground, painting in blue, green, yellow dark pink, pale purple, and reddish-brown enamels, and gilding. Square with low, sloping sides, slightly warped in firing. The unglazed base is pinkish in places, and is speckled in black all over. It has a suspension hole near the left edge (when front is to viewer). The central area is painted in polychrome with two birds carrying branches in their claws. The sides are bleu céleste with a band of gilt flowers and foliage at their junction with the base, and a band of dentilated gilding round the upper edge.

Notes

History note: Acquired by Louis C.G. Clarke before October 1948 when included in an inventory of his collection at Leckhampton, Cambridge; bequeathed by him, 1960.

Legal notes

L.C.G. Clarke Bequst, 1960

Measurements and weight

Height: 1.9 cm
Width: 10.6 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Sèvres ⪼ Île de France ⪼ France

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1961-04-27) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray

Dating

18th Century, Mid#
Louis XV
Production date: AD 1760 : The tray bears the date letter G once thought to stand for 1759, or 1759-60, but since 2014, has been revised to 1760.

Note

Etienne Evans (b. c. 1723) , who worked at the factory from 1752-1806, had formerly been a fan painter. He became a specialist in bird-painting.

The plateau carré with plain sides was in production by 1753. This is the third and smallest size which from 1755 was usually supplied as part of a dejeuner carré with a cup and saucer, or a cup only. Overglaze bleu céleste grounds were introduced in 1753.

School or Style

Rococo

Components of the work

Decoration composed of ground colour ( bleu celeste) enamels ( blue, green, yellow dark pink, pale purple, and reddish-brown) gold
Interior And Sides composed of lead-glaze ( presumed lead-glaze)

Materials used in production

Soft-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Moulding : Soft-paste porcelain, moulded, and decorated overglaze with a bleu céleste ground, painting in blue, green, yellow dark pink, pale purple, and reddish-brown enamels, and gilding
Lead-glazing

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: interlaced L's enclosing G with a dot each side of the top of the Ls and a dot in the centre below

  • Location: On base
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Factory mark

Inscription present: a dagger looking like a cross

  • Text: l with sweeping diagonal line (bottom left to top right) through it
  • Location: On base
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Painter's mark

Inscription present: 6c or bc

  • Text: 6c
  • Location: On base
  • Method of creation: Incised
  • Type: Mark

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.18-1961
Primary reference Number: 93553
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 9 April 2019 Last processed: Wednesday 13 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Plateau carré" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/93553 Accessed: 2024-11-22 03:19:52

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/93553 |title=Plateau carré |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 03:19:52|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-93553

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa23/C_18_1961_20_281_29.jpg"
        alt="Plateau carré"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Plateau carré</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>
    

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...