French Majolica Capucine Gravy Boat with Flower Decoration from Leon Bertrand, Bordeaux, 1950s

We kindly suggest that you read the whole thing, as with it we try to give you detailed technical and historical information to guarantee the authenticity of our objects. Pretty and particular majolica gravy boat; it is a classic gravy boat with the plate integral to the container, but it has a very balanced and harmonious shape; the majolica was then enriched with elegant floral decorations made with the transfer wear method, in addition, time and use have created an interesting craquelé effect that makes the gravy boat even more refined. The mark on the bottom indicates to us that it was made between 1950 and 1955 in Bordeaux, France, by the Lèon Bertrand firm. Lèon Bernard, a native of Gironde, was an entrepreneur specializing in the trade of factory chimneys, for a rather obscure regulatory reason, founded a pottery factory at the end of the 19th century at 50 Rue Delbos in the working-class Bacalan district of Bordeaux; the firm, which was not large, but had skilled staff who produced a few but good quality items, essentially tableware and toiletries. Very original were the dinnerware services, the company had created several with refined floral ornaments, each service had as decoration a flower from the French folk tradition, there was the lily, lily of the valley, lavender, anemone, and many others, the names of the flowers were printed on the object together with the company stamp; our gravy boat was part of a service decorated with a very special flower the "capucine." The "capucine" (Tropaeolum majus) is a flower native to South America, with flowers of a beautiful deep orange color. In France, it is widely used in hanging baskets or decorating fences and walls. The company all decorations used the English method of "transferware." Transferware, which was very fashionable in the Victorian period, refers to glazed and decorated pottery with a specific treatment that they produced in Staffordshire England; they used copper plates on which the design was engraved, the plate was then inked and the design transferred to a special fabric that was later laid on the pottery (plates, trays, tureens, etc.) which was glazed and fired; the first to use this printing process were John Sadler and Guy Green of Liverpool in 1756. A hand-painted plate service could be afforded by a few English families; with this method, even middle-class families could have a decorated plate service. Measures width cm.25, width cm.17, height cm.11. The gravy boat is in good condition.