Raphael Machiels
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The Carlo Colli Collection of Doccia Porcelain: Part II
Lot 164
Très rare plateau ovale en porcelaine de Doccia représentant Apollon et les Neuf Muses, vers 1750-55
A very rare Doccia oval tray depicting Apollo and the Nine Muses, circa 1750-55
A very rare Doccia oval tray depicting Apollo and the Nine Muses, circa 1750-55
30 – 31 October 2025, 14:00 CET
Paris, Avenue HocheSold for €35,000 inc. premium
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Nette Megens
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Sebastian Kuhn
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Sophie von der Goltz
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Très rare plateau ovale en porcelaine de Doccia représentant Apollon et les Neuf Muses, vers 1750-55
A very rare Doccia oval tray depicting Apollo and the Nine Muses, circa 1750-55
A very rare Doccia oval tray depicting Apollo and the Nine Muses, circa 1750-55
Of lobed shape with a rim composed of alternating white and gold dentils, the border edged in gilt and apple green and decorated with six polychrome floral sprays of which three are beribboned, the well decorated with a scene showing Apollo and the Nine Muses within purple scrollwork borders and gilt laurel swags, 32cm diam., (museum restoration)
Footnotes
Literature
Biancalana, Alessandro, Porcellane Ginori a Doccia. La stanza delle meraviglie di casa Colli, 2023, pp. 366-369, cat. 81.
From left to right: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (lyric or erotic poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Terpischore (dance), Apollo (with a quiver of arrows on his back), Polyhymnia (sacred poetry), Euterpe (music and flute), Thalia (comedy), Urania (astronomy and astrology).
The print source for the exceptional decoration on this dish is a 17th century engraving by Philippe Thomassin entitled Novem Musarum Chorea (fig. 1) after the original painting Apollo and the Muses (circa 1514-23) by Baldassare Peruzzi (1481-1536), now in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence (inv. Palatina 167). The inventory produced after Ginori's death in 1757 lists "3.d.ti dipinti, istoriati con piu figure a £.10 [3 of the same painted and decorated with many figures at £.10]" (AGL Firenze, I, 2, f.37, Fabbrica delle Porcellane di Doccia. Scritture e documenti, fasc.6, p. 7). Biancalana (op.cit., p. 369) suggests that the present tray may well be one of the three decorated with "many figures," as they are mentioned in another inventory drawn up a year later that also cites three large trays "dipinti istoriati a figure [painted with historical scenes and figures]" (AGL Firenze, I,2, f.37, Fabbrica delle Porcellane di Doccia. Scritture e documenti, fasc. 8, p.2).
The only other known identical tray is in the collection of the Musée Ariana, Geneva (fig. 2; inv. AR 02561). The floral sprays on the border of this tray echo those on the extensively published Doccia trays depicting Turks, three of which are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (invs. 06.372a,b,c).
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