Bust of Queen Maria I

French-style bust of Queen Maria I, with a narrow circular pedestal, standing on a quadrangular plinth with cut corners, in moulded and glazed white faience. The queen is depicted with her hair pulled up and held in place with plumes, pearls and an intertwined ribbon, typical of the French fashion of the late 1770s/early 1780s. She is wearing a tunic and a cloak that drapes from her left shoulder, where it is held firm with a ribbon and a lozenge-shaped jewel. The Royal Pottery Factory in Rato in Lisbon, founded in 1767 at the initiative of the Marquis of Pombal, was one of the factories of the core industries and applied arts that arose in Lisbon in the neighbourhood of Rato. During the first phase of its operation from 1767 to 1771, the factory was run by the Italian Tomás Brunetto, who was succeeded by the Portuguese master potter Sebastião Inácio de Almeida until 1779, when the factory fell into almost complete disuse.