Fábrica do Carvalhinho Hand-Painted Reticulated Dessert Plate, Portuguese Faience, Pierced Rim, Vintage Porto Portugal

The Carvalhinho factory took its name from a small chapel: in 1841, its founders set up their kilns beside the Chapel of Senhor do Carvalhinho, on the steep north bank of the Douro in Porto. Over the following decades the pottery won medals at exhibitions in Porto's Crystal Palace. In 1923 it moved across the river to Vila Nova de Gaia, where it grew into one of northern Portugal's leading makers of tiles and decorative tableware before closing in the 1970s. This dessert plate was painted by hand in the lively palette the region is loved for. Concentric bands of cobalt blue, mustard ochre, leafy green, and aubergine tendrils dotted with blue circle a patterned center medallion. The rim is pierced with a ring of oval openings, each framed in ochre brushstrokes, so the plate looks light and lacy whether it's set on a table or hung on a wall. The reverse carries the factory's round Carvalhinho Porto mark with its FC monogram, the inscription "pintado à mão" (painted by hand), and "Made in Portugal."

Dimensions: 10" Dia