The “Age of the Enlightenment” was extremely fond of flowers, as demonstrated by this design produced in the last decade of that period by the Clignancourt Manufactory.
Flowers have consistently been the motif of choice of painters and have decorated the crowning jewels of tableware design. The style enjoyed renewed favor: foliage became less formal, bouquets looser, twigs and cut flowers arranged romantically, poetically. Straight lines bring structure and discipline to the exuberance of small intertwined branches, whilst golden accents illuminate the design and emphasize the delicate hues of the flowers.
Perhaps the last vestige of a regime recently abolished by the Revolution, a golden crown mischievously encircles the well of the plate.
Original pieces from this sumptuous Roseraie pattern, may be found at the Montmartre Museum in Paris.