Choisy-le-Roi - Hautin Boulenger et Cie - Plate (6) - Le jeu de carte - Creamware - Talking plates

SET OF SIXTEEN? No, SIX DINNERS? Wait: This is an ensemble of six plates? The original says ENSEMBLE DE SIX ASSIETTES « LE JEU DE CARTES » — So: SET OF SIX PLATES "THE CARD GAME" Choisy-le-Roi – Hautin Boulenger & Cie

End of the 19th century, around 1880-1900

Fine earthenware so-called “terre de fer,” with a polychrome printed decoration enhanced by brush-applied color.

Set of seven circular plates with a humorous decoration devoted to the characters of the card game and their connections with various trades and figures of contemporary society (late 19th century).

Each plate presents, on a white background, two rectangular printed brown cards/scenes, accompanied by smaller central figures and humorous captions inscribed in ribbon-shaped speech balloons.

The characters are associated with the traditional suits of playing cards: hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades.

Scenes include, notably:
- The King of Spades and the Queen of Hearts;
- The King of Clubs and the Queen of Diamonds;
- The Queen of Diamonds and the King of Clubs;
- The Jack of Hearts and the Jack of Spades;
- The Queen of Clubs and the King of Diamonds;
- The Jack of Clubs and the Jack of Diamonds.

The inscriptions, deliberately satirical, play on the traits traditionally ascribed to the different cards. Examples include:
- "The King of Clubs is very brilliant but he bolts off with the money"
- or "The good Queen of Diamonds sells the carrot and the leek".

One of the compositions also pairs the pharmacist, the Jack of Spades and the Jack of Hearts, while another features the clown, the Jack of Clubs and various popular characters.

Border

The plates are adorned with a green peripheral geometric border, consisting of a sequence of motifs in the shape of points, diamonds and small dotted elements, outlined by a gold fillet.

Thus the decoration presents the typical aesthetic of the “talking plates” of the second half of the 19th century: printed images, humorous captions, social subjects and partial hand coloring.

Mark

On the reverse, there is the printed mark:
" Terre de fer
HB & Cie "
accompanied by a recessed mark.

This mark allows precise linking of the production to the Hautin Boulenger & Cie porcelain works in Choisy-le-Roi. The company officially took the name H. Boulenger & Cie in 1863, while the form “Hte Boulenger & Cie” appears from 1878.

Manufacture

The Choisy-le-Roi manufacture, founded in the early 19th century by the Paillart brothers, became in 1836 the property of Hippolyte Hautin, in partnership with Louis Boulenger. In 1863, Hippolyte Boulenger took charge of the company and greatly expanded its production.

By the end of the 19th century, Choisy-le-Roi had become one of the great French manufacturers of fine earthenware with printed decoration, producing notably series of plates with humorous subjects, talking plates, rebuses, social scenes and themed series.

Dating: Around 1880-1900,

The mark and the technique place the set within the active period of Hautin Boulenger & Cie. The polychrome printed decoration and the style of the characters also correspond to late 19th-century productions.

Dimensions: Diameter: 19 cm for the photographed exemplars. - weight of the 6 plates: 1 kg 560

Condition

Overall condition good to very good, with slight signs of use and aging typical for earthenware of this period: enamel crazing, minor wear to decoration and gilding, superficial marks from use. One plate with 2 “hairs” and 1 small repair on the back; the other 5 plates in very good condition with no restoration.