19th Century French Porcelain Dish by Louis Pierre Malpass

This is an absolutely fabulous antique French "Japonesque" ormolu mounted porcelain tripod dish, late 19th century in date. It bears the signature of Louis-Pierre Malpass, one of the most important porcelain painters of his time. Beautifully hand painted with a central panel depicting a Japanese man wearing a conical straw hat with two swords in his belt. The panel painted on an ornately decorated cream ground with a Bleu Celeste border and decorative gilded highlights. The stunning ormolu mount decorated in relief with birds, butterflies and foliage, with pierced oriental style handles and riased on claw feet Condition: In really excellent condition, with no chips, cracks or repairs, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 12 x width 50 x depth 40 Dimensions in inches: Height 4.7 x width 19.7 x depth 15.7 Pierre Louis Malpass is a parisian porcelain painter, known in the 1870s. His studio was located at 16 rue Pierre Levé in Paris. He also worked in the workshop of Paul Blot (successor of Feuillet) at 3 rue de la Paix in the late 19th century. A porcelain painting after the painting by Jacques-Louis David, "Le Sacre", realized by Malpass is kept to Chateau de Malmaison and Bois-Préau. Ormolu (from French 'or moulu', signifying ground or pounded gold) is an 18th century English term for applying finely ground, high-carat gold in a mercury amalgam to an object of bronze. The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold-coloured veneer known as 'gilt bronze'. The manufacture of true ormolu employs a process known as mercury-gilding or fire-gilding, in which a solution of nitrate of mercury is applied to a piece of copper, brass, or bronze, followed by the application of an amalgam of gold and mercury. The item was then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury burned off and the gold remained, adhered to the metal object. After circa 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury other techniques were used instead. Electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used on silver, to produce silver-gilt.