Authentic Scenic Plate

This is a very rare treat - a porcelain scenic or picture plate made by Royal Vienna in 1806. Yes this is an authentic piece and not one of the thousands of copies one sees all the time. These real pieces are extremely rare and much nicer than the later copies. The center has a mythological type scene in it possibly painted by Claudius Herr who was amoung their most important painters of this period and worked at the factory until 1838. The scene shows the judgement of Paris which was a contest between the three most beautiful goddesses of Olympus - Aphrodite, Hera and Athena - for the prize of a golden apple addressed to "the fairest". The rim has some spectacular designs on it with two rings of light blue, two rings of a dark maroon with a raised gold design over it and 4 rings of gilding with raised designs to it as well. An amazing amount of work has gone into the rim design alone! Gold trim to the very edge of the plate as well! The central design is of the best quality you will ever find. The colors are strong and the design looks lifelike not flat like the later copies. I tried to show the texture even in the clouds and greens behind the ladies. Not sure what the name of this painting is but there are three ladies on one side two of which are partialy nude and on the other side there is a shepherdess. Two sheep are in the foreground and a small brook to the left. An amazing example of what the Vienna factory could do! And best of all the plate is in superb condition with a tiny bit of wear to the gilding but it is very very minor and there are three or four tiny spots where the paint is off but they are the size of the tip of a needle at most and I am being super picky as always. If you like Vienna plates this has to be your next piece :) The plate is just over 9.5 inches in diameter and 1.625 inches tall. It is marked with the underglaze blue shield mark underneath as well as an impressed 806. Please email me for more information or photos.