Dutch Delft Polychrome Pair of Plaques With Flower Baskets

Dutch Delft Polychrome Botanical Plaques,
A Pair,
Mid-18th Century

The shaped Dutch Delft plaques each depict an exuberant display of flowers in an oval-handled jardiniere.  The molded, raised rim with a band of red with a continuous floral vine in yellow surrounds the center.  The top with a large molded shell also in red and yellow and three other smaller shells to the bottom and the left and right sides.  The exterior edge of the plaque is colored green.

Marks: One plaque with a large scratched "H" on the reverse.

A similar plaque dated 1763 can be seen at the V & A, accession # 3071-1853  (https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O160011/plaque-unknown/).

Dimensions: 9 inches high x 9 3/4 inches wide x 1 inch deep

Reference:

The leading Dutch Dealer, Aronson, writes, ": Plaques were known as “porcelain paintings” in household inventories, as they were intended to be admired like paintings on panel, canvas or copper. For these small objects, Delft potters depicted still-life paintings of flowers and fruits, a source of imagery that was borrowed from the popular seventeenth-century Dutch floral still-life paintings of the Golden Age. 

Although Delftware painters were influenced by these paintings, they rarely had access to them. Instead, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Delft artists relied on woodcuts, etchings, or engravings as their source of imagery. The prints were available in the potteries’ collections or supplied by a client for a special commission. While the Delftware painters had some artistic license, the plaque compositions were almost entirely based on the print source. 

(Ref: NY9980-urrr)

Dimensions

Price

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance

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