Tea tray (Plateau)
The composition at the center of the tray shows Venus spanking her son, Cupid, with a spray of roses, illustrating the inscription below: Nul amour sans peine, nul rose sans epine (No love without grief, no rose without a thorn). Venus and Adonis and Venus and Cupid are depicted in vignettes enclosed by the elaborate Rococo frame.
Faience tea trays were immune to the heat of the spirit lamp and to spills of hot water and milk. Relatively few ceramic tea trays have survived. They were often set into the recessed top of plain occasional tables.
Faience tea trays were immune to the heat of the spirit lamp and to spills of hot water and milk. Relatively few ceramic tea trays have survived. They were often set into the recessed top of plain occasional tables.
Artwork Details
- Title: Tea tray (Plateau)
- Maker: The Muses Master
- Artist: After a print by François Bernard l'Epicier (French, Paris 1698–1755 Paris)
- Artist: Based on a painting by Jean Marc Nattier (French, Paris 1685–1766 Paris)
- Factory director: Pierre Chapelle II (1684–1760)
- Date: ca. 1750–60
- Culture: French, Rouen
- Medium: Faience (tin-glazed earthenware)
- Dimensions: 25 x 19 1/8 in. (63.5 x 48.6 cm)
- Classification: Ceramics-Pottery
- Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
- Object Number: 17.190.1835
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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Niderviller
Baron Jean-Louis de Beyerlé
1760–65
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1690
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1684–85
Pierre Brebiette
ca. 1725
Pierre Chapelle II
ca. 1760
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