"Flora Danica" Porcelain Dinner Service
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A Royal Copenhagen 'Flora Danica' porcelain dinner service, first half 20th century, each piece hand painted with botanical specimens, within painted and gilded borders and serrated rims, the Latin titles of each specimen to verso. Comprising twelve dinner plates, twelve entree plates, twelve bowls, twelve side plates, twelve coffee cans and saucers, twelve pot-de-creme cups with covers and stands, three large platters, two small platters and two sauce boats with underplates. Green factory mark to verso with the three blue wave symbol. Provenance: The contents from the Peninsula home of Sir Ian Potter and Lady Potter AC. Soup bowls 24.5 cm diameter
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- Coffee Can - A coffee can is a cup for holding coffee, but of a cylindrical shape rather than the waisted shape of traditional cups. They were in use at the end of the 18th century and in the early 19th century.
- Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.
For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.
Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today. - Verso - Verso is the "back" side of a sheet of paper, art work, coin or medal. The front side is "recto".
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