Appetizer plate in the form of a crescent with Chinoiserie decoration

A plate made of faience in the shape of a kidney with a slightly creamy colour and a fine grid of decorative cracks in the enamel – "crackles". Decorated in the Chinese style with floral and geometric motifs. Peony flowers and flowered branches imitating cherry blossoms are visible. A wide strip of unconnected decorations covers the edge of the dishware, surrounding a small well of the plate in the centre. The drawing of the pattern is applied using the underglaze printing technique, on the enamel, there is a decoration in rusty red, light, and dark blue, and several shades of green and yellow with gilding. The only continuous ornament is a narrow strip of overlapping rhombuses, in six places interrupted by short sections (blue flower with leaves). On the flat back of the plate, there are the manufacturer's signature "BOOTHS" and a double letter "T", stamped in the mass. There are also stamps underglaze printed in burgundy colour: "MANUFACTURED FOR:/A LA PAIX,/34.AVENUE DE L'OPERA,/PARIS/ IMPORTE D'ANGLETERRE". Next, there is the manual digital recording in glaze paint in vermilion colour: "7793"/"0" and the letter "F". Next to it, there is a handwritten inscription in oil paint "inv. no. S.8436MŁ". Faience shaped in form, decoration printed and painted with glaze paints, and gilding. Company: Thomas, Booths Sonne, England, Hanley, Booths, 2nd half of the nineteenth century

Dorota Rajchert