Seven Drawings Of Floral Designs For Ceramic Plates, After 18th-century Models

Seven Drawings of Floral Designs for Ceramic Plates, 20th Century, after 18th-Century Models

Watercolour on paper.

A rare group of seven hand-painted drawings depicting floral designs intended for the decoration of ceramic or faience plates. Each sheet shows a different central floral composition, accompanied by small border motifs, while the outline of the plate is lightly sketched in pencil to guide the placement of the decoration.

These are 20th-century copies after 18th-century decorative models, most likely preserved within the archive of a ceramic workshop to record and transmit traditional patterns. The reverse of each sheet bears handwritten notes in French with colour indications and the names of pigments commonly used by ceramic painters, including Naples yellow, slate blue, carmine, typical of pottery workshops, as well as mentions of important French ceramic manufactories, including Niederviller and, probably, Moustiers.

These working documents provide an interesting insight into the transmission of historic ceramic decoration and are considerably rarer than the finished ceramics for which they were intended. Today they also make attractive decorative works, suitable for framing either individually or as a complete series.

Condition consistent with age and workshop use, with minor creases, small tears and edge wear that do not affect their historical or decorative interest.