White and blue plate

Round plate covered with slightly blue tin gaze. On the brim there is a floral motif repeated four times, while in the centre there is an oriental floral composition consists of peonies and bamboo. Imported oriental pottery is so appreciated in Italian palaces and villas to encourage the best Italian majolica and pocelain manufactures to develop a production of shapes and decorations in "Chinese fashion". In Milan, for example, it is the majolica factory of the Ospedaletto of Sant'Ambrogio, managed by Felice Clerici, that produces imitations of contemporary Chinese products, such as the plate on display.