Design for the Decoration of a Dessert Plate for Pillivuyt

Habert-Dys was a pivotal figure in the French decorative arts in the transitional period from Japonisme to Art Nouveau. During the 1880s, he produced several portfolios of designs, most famous of which is his Fantasies Décoratives (1886/87), which was first issued in 12 installments. It contains designs for all-over patterns as well as object-specific pattern designs. Habert-Dys was highly sought after for the latter, in particular in the field of ceramics. This sheet with a design for a dessert plate is part of a small group of surviving drawings that suggest that Habert-Dys designed an entire ceramic dinner service with this pattern for the French firm Pillivuyt. The rim of the plate is decorated with a floral pattern inspired by Japanese porcelain decorations. The background is painted in an off-white/cream color while the flowers are executed in shades of blue combined with white and a pale yellow color. The leaves and abstract background elements are in gold-brown tones and were possibly meant to be (partially) gilded.