These beautiful plates which were exquisitely decorated with roses and wild flowers by the faienceries of Marseille, during the 18th century. This one is credited to the factory known as Veuve Perrin, one of the best known of the Marseille faienceries, around the last quarter of the 18th century.

The decoration, which is typical of 18th century faience from Marseille, is a rococo style. Another tradition of Marseille faience are the stems and leaves outlined with delicate black lines.

The plate was created by the complex and expensive method known as petit feu ("small fire," an advancement of great importance), in which the plate was first fired in the simple creamy ground colored glaze, undecorated, then painted over the glaze in beautiful enamels and re-fired at low temperature. This method first allowed for the use of more delicate glaze colors, finally enabling the creation of faience with the look of soft-paste porcelain of the period.

Diameter 9 1/4in (23.5cm)

Signs of early production include tiny pits in the glaze and three marks of pernettes, which are over-painted in the traditional green of Veuve Perrin. Also attesting to age, the underlying clay in the plate is pink in color. (Later production was whiter.) The plate is unmarked, as was typical of the period.

Regarding condition of the plate, there are no cracks or repairs (tested with black light). The plate rings clearly. It has the usual glaze flaking on the rim, typical of the period, as shown in the images. One has left a chip at 9 o'clock, less than 1/4in or .5cm. This would be an easy repair if desired. But, most collectors of early faience leave the rims chips alone, since they are so typical of early faience and delftware or any tin-glazed wares of the period and, help in their identification.