- Title
- Plate
- Date Made
- 1808
- Medium
- Porcelain with enamel and gilding
- Dimensions
- Diameter (Diameter): 9 1/4 in. (23.495 cm)
Height: 2 in. (5.08 cm)
- Accession Number
- 55.65.2
- Collecting Area
- Decorative Arts and Design
- Curatorial Notes
The Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory enjoyed the active patronage of Napoleon and his wife Josephine and, in keeping with the emperor’s taste for Roman pomp and symbolism, ceramics with overtly classical decoration became the height of fashion in court circles. The classical female bust at the center of this plate was hand-painted in shades of brown. The monochromatic palette enhances the impression of antique stone, while the inner and outer gold borders with stylized laurel leaves recall traditional Roman victory crowns.
Porcelain wares were produced as diplomatic gifts and for use in government agencies and royal residences. LACMA’s plate originally formed part of an extensive dessert service that Napoleon presented in 1809 to Frederick I, king of Württemberg, a military ally who had admired the service during his visit to Paris that year, following Napoleon’s defeat of Austria at the Battle of Austerlitz. Other plates in the service are painted in imitation of ancient cameos, whereas this one may have been inspired by an ancient sculpture in the Musée Napoleon that the emperor established at the Louvre, or possibly an engraving of Greek and Roman antiquities compiled by the museum’s curator.
