A PAIR OF LE NOVE PORCELAIN TEABOWLS AND SAUCERS

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the relationship between the decoration seen on household and ornamental textiles and that on ceramics of the same period has always been a close one. The same or similar motifs, patterns and decorative arrangements can been seen on both textiles and ceramics, including porcelain and faience, as the designers of fabrics and decorators of porcelain used the same sources as inspiration, or directly copied from one another. This is seen most literally in the late 18th century when porcelain decorators began to take inspiration directly from silks and chintzes imported from India and the Far East, which were becoming more common place in daily life. Le Nove, Sèvres and several German porcelain factories, in particular Nymphenburg, chose to attempt to directly recreate the texture and sheen of silk, resulting in colourful patterns with a very distinctive geometric feel. For a Sèvres cup and saucer decorated with radiating bands of 'simulated silk' alternating with panels of 'gilt braiding' see Marie-Noëlle Pinot de Villechenon, Sèvres, Porcelain from the Sèvres Museum 1740 to the Present Day, London, 1997, p. 36, pl. 36 (centre). See Giovanni Conti, L'Arte della Maiolica in Italia, Milan, 1980, pl. 606-607, for a faience oval dish and a soup bowl and cover with similar decoration and Maioliche di Lodi, Milano e Pavia, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan, 1964, nos. 395-398 for further examples of Italian faience decorated with patterns drawing their inspiration from textiles.