PIATTO IN PORCELLANA POLICROMA, MANIFATTURA DI NAPOLI, CIRCA 1784-1788

decorated with view of the Felice Arch within a cameo border inscribed Museo Farnesiano; some wear and scratches Factory mark, engraved markings, inscribed 'View of the Felice Arch' H. cm 2.2, W. cm 25.8 A NAPLES PORCELAIN DISH, CIRCA 1784-1788; SLIGHTLY WORN, FEW SCRATCHES This dish, like those in the subsequent lots, belongs to one of the great services commissioned by the court of Naples from the royal manufactory, and the first decorated with views of the most beautiful Neapolitan (and other cities of the Kingdom) panoramas. Called 'Farnesian' because of the frieze that decorates the flaps of the plates and the edges of the form pieces (of cameos with the inscription Museo Farnesiano), the service stands out for the great care devoted to the elaboration of the forms and the high pictorial quality of the decorations. The latter derive from various sources, such as Abbot de Saint-Non's Voyage Pittoresque of 1781-1786, Sir William Hamilton's Phlegraean Fields (1776) or the various collections of engravings spread from 1750 onward with archaeological or monumental views of the Bourbon kingdom. The Farnese service, later versions of which are known to have varied borders, was carefully studied in 1986 by Angela Caròla-Perrotti, on the occasion of the exhibition devoted to the porcelains of Naples (A.Caròla-Perrotti, Le porcellane dei Borbone di Napoli, exhibition catalog, Naples 1986, pp. 376-377, cards 296-301).