Trois plats ovales napolitains, Real Fabbrica Ferdinandea, du Service del Fiordalisi, circa 1792-95

Three Naples, Real Fabbrica Ferdinandea, oval dishes from the Servizio del Fiordalisi, circa 1792-95

In two sizes, two medium and one large, decorated with an oval topographical landscape medallion within a gilt foliate border, titled on the reverse in iron-red, depicting: 'Tempio di Diana a Baja', 'Veduta della Punta di Mergellina', and (on the large dish) 'Veduta del Sepolcro di Virgilio'. the rims with a band of blue and gilt cornflowers between gilt bands, brown-edged rims, 34.1cm and 41.6cm across, crowned N marks in blue, incised 4T (large dish repaired) (3)
Footnotes:
Provenance
Italian Private Collection

The 'Servizio del Fiordalisi' [Fleur-de-lys service] was produced around the same time as the 'Servizio dell'Oca', which also depicted topographical views of the kingdom. It may well have been the service described as 'a vedute fiori e oro' which was selected for the palace at Caserta by Giuseppe Bonaparte. The fleur-de-lys style border was a popular motif towards the end of the 18th century and was used at a variety of porcelain factories. For a full discussion and another example from the service see Andreina d'Agliano (ed.), Porcellane Italiane dalla Collezione Lokar (2013), no. 121. Several plates and soup plates are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The large dish is repaired: a large piece of the rim (approx 20cm wide at the rim and with a max depth of 9cm) was restuck at the lower right. There is a parallel crack beginning a little higher on the rim that runs into the left side of the landscape medallion (because of the overpainting, it isn't possible to see if it loops down to the bottom rim, but there is overpainting so it is possible a second piece was restuck. There is another haircrack that joins with this one on rhe rght of the landscape scene and branches upwards towards the centre of the dish (it terminates above the centre of the landscape medallion. There is another (7cm) haircrack to the rim at the lower right.
There is extensive old overpainting to the repairs that is yellowed with age and flaking (and covers a much larger area than the actual repair).
One medium oval dish (Mergellina) has a tiny flat chip to the edge of the rim on the left side.
Otherwise in good condition.