Ornamental dish

The dish has a deep surface and a broad rim. The edge is lined with gold and then comes a burgundy-coloured stripe, etched out of copper ruby glass plate. Almost the half of the illustration is etched out of the two top layers: the yellow and the copper ruby ones. The pattern consists of rich ornaments of wild roses, sunflowers and roses, birds sitting on a branch, butterflies fly in a landscape surrounding. A jug and a vase resembling Renaissance goldsmiths' pieces appear peering out from the branches of the plants. The surface of the dish is lined with a light and a dark burgundy stripe, and, following the all-round bell- flower motifs, the centre of the dish shows two reddish-burgundy crayfish on yellow vine leaves. The decoration of this plate is a fairly original one among the relics from the second half of the 19th century: it is a kind of "trompe l'oeil" decoration. This reminds me of eighteenth century Tata plates, decorated with crayfish. In their case, the "trompe l'oeil” intention is a fairly strong one, relying on Palissy traditions and deceiving, naturalistic illustration. On this dish, however, this tradition is restricted and exchanged with high decorativeness. This dish was part of the Schreiber collection introduced at the 1900 Paris World Exhibition.