297.
A ‘FAMILLE ROSE’ ‘MADAME DE POMPADOUR’ DISH
Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, 1745 circa
…. cm diam
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. …..
The decoration of this dish is traditionally referred to King Louis XV of France, here represented by the eagle, and his favourite mistress Madame de Pompadour whose surname was Poisson, the French word for fish. However, it seems not plausible that she could agree to a reference to her lower-class name in such an official object (R. Kerr – L.E. Mengoni, Chinese Export Ceramics, London 2011, p. 54, pl. 67, for a dish with a similar decoration but with a different arrangement of the enamels in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London; see also M. Beurdeley, Porcelain of the East India Companies, London 1962, p. 198, n. 190 and Howard–Ayers 1978, II, n. 449).
