La Tronche Plate, 18th Century.

This beautiful earthenware plate is decorated in the center with a Chinese figure commonly called "The Hunchback of Saint Ferjus". It was created in La Tronche, a town near Grenoble, by a potter from Claude Potié's workshop. To describe our plate we cannot replace Claude Ferradou, who during a conference at the Académie Delphinale described one of his little sisters, here is what he tells us about it: "With his hidden eye, he watches over his little garden of foliage and small flowers, with its two manganese rocks, under a fluttering butterfly, surrounded by the double circular border that closes it. On the other, always open, he observes from the side, without seeming to, the World which is agitated and has changed so much since he looks at it... He was born a long time ago one morning in the year 1772, on a bed of raw enamel the color of milk and without stencil, from a few quick strokes with the brush of a faience worker from the workshop of Claude POTIE at La Petite Tronche, just before his passage to the great fire. " The closure of the last faience workshop of La Tronche is dated November 30, 1830, the day of the departure of Antoine POTIE, master faience maker (1774-1859) who had taken over the factory from his uncle François since 1812. In very good condition, it nevertheless presents some small enamel jumps around the edge. 18th century period. Diameter 21.8 cm.