A DOCCIA BLUE AND WHITE SOUP PLATE CIRCA 1740

Sotheby's Olympia, December 14, 2004, lot 45, acquired through E. & H. Manners, London

Cassidy-Geiger, 2008, no. 386, p. 726, illus.

'A stampino' 'stampa' or stenciled decoration is one of the most distinctive styles of decoration in early production at Doccia. The technique was realized by creating a cut-out pattern, laying it over the porcelain body and applying cobalt blue with a brush. A letter written in 1755 by Gaspero Bruschi and Jacopo Fanciullacci to Carlo Ginori, founder of the factory, describes the development of this form of decoration, 'Micio fa le prove dei rami coi fiori per i tondini, e cotte che sieno si manderanno. Riceverà un libro di fiori che non paion cattivi, per copiarsi nel rame...' , Alessandro Biancalana, Porcellane e Maioliche a Doccia, La Fabbrica dei Marchesi Ginori I Primi Cento Anni, Florence, 2009, p. 147.