Trompe l'oeil Palissy style majolica charger

This charger, or plate, is inspired by the highly innovative 16th Century ceramicist Bernard Palissy (French, c. 1510-1590). Made from lead-glazed earthenware, otherwise known as majolica, it shows three fish and an eel on a carpet of green leaves and shells. Palissy often incorporated life-cast water creatures and plants to create a hyper-realist work of art in an attempt at imitating nature. In the mid-19th Century his work was rediscovered, and it became very popular especially among French and English potters who produced copies as good as the originals and often more elaborate. This piece could be attributed to the School of Tours, a cluster of workshops founded around the Loire Valley and headed by ceramicists Charles Jean Avisseau (1796 -1861) and Joseph Landais (1860-1912).