Plateau

This dish derives from the rimless shallow bowl of the Orient, a ceramic form that first became known in the sixteenth century to the Portuguese through Chinese porcelain examples made for the Arab market. It was meant for display rather than for practical use. The decoration is assembled from a variety of sources, unified by a subdued color scheme of yellow, blue and light red. At the center are Venus and Cupid flanked by bacchanalian satyrs, probably from two different engravings. Dots in the outlines of these figures indicate that a “poncis”—a type of stenciled guide for the painter—was used. The central figure group in blue monochrome stands in reserve on a star-shaped yellow compartment filled with curling dark blue, seaweed-like foliage in the manner of André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732). Surrounding this in six shaped reserves of identical form and content, are naturalistic, asymmetrical arrangements of chrysanthemums and grasses in pale red and blue derived from Japanese kakiemon porcelain painting. The space between these compartments is yellow, overpainted in dark blue with an oriental trellis design. The edge of the bowl has a narrow border of stylized peonies and leaves in blue and light red, also derived from borders on imported oriental porcelain.