Pair of Jules Vieillard ceramic oval small dishes 'Raviers - Parisian belle époque floral navy blue transferware c1890 France

A gorgeous French antique ceramic oval serving dish featuring very pretty late Neoclassical, early Art Nouveau foliate border design in blue transferware and bearing the mark for Gien France.

Made in about 1890, this oval platter (called a 'ravier' in French) would have been used to serve vegetables, but this classic piece with smoothly fluted interior could lend itself to many purposes.

From Jules Vieillard et Cie, Bordeaux, France in the pattern 'Moustiers' inspired by the renaissance-style designs of Jean Berain, the leading designer to the court of Louis XIV (see below for more on this). These were produced as part of a service and made in faience fine c1860-1890.

Priced and sold as a PAIR of raviers

This magnificent 'Moustiers' service was produced during the third empire in France, in the mid-late 19th Century by the highly respected maker Jules Vieillard of Bordeaux. In line with the style of times, the design turns to historic French and Classical revival motifs for its designs, utilizing iconic imagery from the hand-painted designs of the renowned faienceries of Moustiers, reworking them for transferware production. This service includes a remarkable diversity of imagery, the classical motifs include mythological creatures (dragons, sphinx, griffins, nymphs, gods, putti) accompanied by lambrequins, amphorae, wreaths and garlands, and surrounded by a border of arabesque floral designs. All rendered in a richly detailed and vibrant transferware of deep navy / midnight blue 'en camaïeu' a technique that employs two or three tints of a single color to create sumptuous shading and colour depth within a monochromatic palette. A truly stunning design.
The beautiful gently aged ivory of the surface is complemented by the striking deep blue border design, featuring stylized flowers, scrolls and acanthus leaf patterns.

These pieces are in lightly shabby antique condition and show signs of their great age - damage includes a chip to the underside edge of the rim on the first ravier, its about the size of a pumpkin seed with only a small part (0.5cm) visible from the top.
The second has a non-penetrating hairline crack to its base about 10cm in length, not visible from the top surface. There is an area of glaze loss about 2cm in diameter on the serving face which is also slightly discolored, in relation to the first dish. Otherwise a few tiny 'fleabite' glaze losses, scrapes / signs of use and wear (scratches, scuffs), some very light crazing of the glazes, a little discoloration. These pieces while perhaps not being suitable for their original use still display nicely as the imperfections are not visible other than on close inspection. Lovers of shabby decor will swoon!

Dimensions: 24.5cm long x 12.5cm wide (at widest point) x 4cm high (highest point)

Feel free to ask any questions, or request additional images :)

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