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Plaque with a portrait of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria
Made at: Doccia Manufactory (Italy)
Italian
about 1744-1746
Place of Manufacture: Doccia, Italy
Medium/Technique
Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Height: 33 cm (13 in.)
Credit Line
Kiyi and Edward M. Pflueger Collection. Bequest of Edward M. Pflueger and Gift of Kiyi Powers Pflueger, and John H. and Ernestine A. Payne Fund
Accession Number2003.118
CollectionsEurope
This Marchese Carlo Ginori, founder of the Doccia factory, commissioned this plaque in homage to his sovereign and patron, the Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia.
DescriptionIn profile to sinister, a diadem in her hair and a pendant jewel pinned to the drapery on her right shoulder, set in a baroque frame below a baldicchino formed of the imperial crown, from which hang draped curtains, the sides with acanthus scrolls and flowers modeled in the round, centerd below by a shell flanked by scroll feet mounted on a mid-19th century wood and metal easel
Provenance1744, made at the Doccia factory, Italy, upon the order of Marchese Carlo Ginori (b. 1702 - d. 1757) [see note 1]. Probably 19th century, Demidoff family, Villa Pratolino, Florence; by descent to H. R. H. Prince Paul of Yugoslavia (b. 1893 - d. 1976) and Princess Olga of Greece (b. 1903 - d. 1997); July 5, 1966, Princess Olga of Greece and others sale, Sotheby & Co., London, lot 15, to Canova. August 16, 1976, probably sold by Andreina Torre (dealer), Zurich, to Edward M. Pflueger (b. 1905 - d. 1997) and Kiyi Powers Pflueger (b. 1915 - d. 2008), New York [see note 3]; 2003, bequest of Edward M. Pflueger and gift of Kiyi Powers Pflueger to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 26, 2003)
NOTES:
[1] Ginori was the founder of the Doccia factory; see Hugo Morley-Fletcher, "Early European Porcelain and Faience as Collected by Kiyi and Edward Pflueger" (London, 1993), vol. 2, p. 5. [2] Prince Paul of Yugoslavia was the great-grandson of Anatole Nicolaievitch Demidoff, Prince of San Donato (b. 1813 - d. 1870), whose large collection of art was housed at the Villa Pratolino, near Florence. [3] Dr. Andreina Torre was a Zurich-based porcelain dealer whose name appears on a bank draft from Edward Pflueger with the words "Maria Theresa plaque" handwritten in the corner of the page.
NOTES:
[1] Ginori was the founder of the Doccia factory; see Hugo Morley-Fletcher, "Early European Porcelain and Faience as Collected by Kiyi and Edward Pflueger" (London, 1993), vol. 2, p. 5. [2] Prince Paul of Yugoslavia was the great-grandson of Anatole Nicolaievitch Demidoff, Prince of San Donato (b. 1813 - d. 1870), whose large collection of art was housed at the Villa Pratolino, near Florence. [3] Dr. Andreina Torre was a Zurich-based porcelain dealer whose name appears on a bank draft from Edward Pflueger with the words "Maria Theresa plaque" handwritten in the corner of the page.