Three fans appear along the edges of this brown transfer printed plate by the Vieillard works of Bordeaux--each turned at a different angle to create a slightly undulating flow around the plate. In the large top fan we see a falcon and flowers.To the lower left is a poetically twisted branch. On the right we receive an intimate glimpse into a geisha's dressing room. Connecting the fans is a figured band suggestive of a silk brocade.

One must note the printed fan mark on the backside. In a tortured script intended to suggest Japanese characters we have "JVaBx" for Jules Vieillard a Bordeaux--all contained within another fan-shaped field.

We have seen reference to the pattern as "Eventails" or "Fans." While this seems self-evident, we have not encountered examples so marked.

Fans were a central object of obsession for the followers of the late 19th century Japanese mania. We see them decorating interior walls, for example, in well-known portraits by Monet and Manet. In ceramic decorations we find fans depicted with other Japanese objects as well as fan shaped fields containing scenes or exotic patterns. Here the flat shapes of fan leaves contain images undistorted by folds, but the sticks are included lest we miss the point.

The Vieillard works in Bordeaux were a continuation of the pottery founded by immigrant Irishman David Johnston who introduced English style earthenware and transfer printing to France in the mid 1830's. Jules Vieillard took over operations in 1845 and in 1865 turned the pottery over to his sons who continued under the same name until 1895. The second Vieillard generation is associated with inventive, often whimsical, excursions into the Japanese style.

Other examples of this pattern are available from Seekers Antiques. Elsewhere on this site are listed a large diameter charger and a set of ten dinner plates, each featuring different vignettes within the fan-shape fields. We also have five additional individual dinner plates available -- not shown elsewhere.  Contact us for information on other individual plates in stock.