Four Portuguese Palissy-Style Trompe l'oeil Dishes, Late 19th Century

Four Portuguese Palissy-Style Trompe l'oeil Dishes, Late 19th Century

applied with various amphibians and insects including lizards, snakes, frogs and winged insects, on a shredded moss ground, two with impressed lozenge mark for Jose A. Cunha, Portugal, Caldas Rainha, two with embossed script monogram for José Francisco de Sousa, Caldas de Rainha

diameter of largest 9 1/2 in.
24.2 cm

Condition Report:
Overall the dishes present well in good appearance.
The smallest dish with restoration to snake head, 1 larger dish with restoration to spider legs and a tip of two butterflies wings, another with snake head restored, and the other with section of rim restored. Typical minor losses.

Catalogue Note:
In 1860, José Francisco de Sousa purchased a factory from another ceramicist and began making decorative plates, which often featured lobsters, fish, and moss. In this example, a dish of fish and an eel have been placed on a bed of moss.