CIRCA 1770

This scene is probably copied from an engraving by N. Le Mire after Eisen, illustrating 'Zélis au bain', a poem by Masson de Pezay published in 1763. See Hervouët and Bruneau, La Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes à Décor Occidental, Paris, 1986, p. 196, fig. 9.6 for a saucer with this design decorated en camaïeu rose. However, Lloyd Hyde, Espirito Santo Silva and Malta suggest that the scene is very similar to an engraving by Moreau le Jeune, which illustrates 'Les Chansons' of La Borde, published in 1773. A teapot and cover with this design, but decorated in iron-red camaïeu is illustrated by Howard and Ayers, China for the West, London and New York, 1978, vol.II, p. 362, no. 352. Pieces from a famille rose service with this all-over design appear to be rare; a saucer-dish in the Museo Nacional de Arte e Antigua, Lisbon, was included in the exhibition, Portugal and Porcelain, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1984, catalogue no. 48.