Description:

This earthenware platter is printed in dark brown.  The pattern features exotic blooming orchids and wildflowers mixed with fern fronds and two cartouches; one of the Paris Opera House and another of Place de la Concorde in Paris.

The Place de la Concorde is the largest square in the French capital.  Decorated with statues and fountains, the area was named Place Louis XV to honor the king at that time. The square showcased an equestrian statue of the king.  During the French Revolution, the guillotine was most active during the "Reign of Terror", in the summer of 1794, when in a single month more than 1,300 people were executed. A year later, when the revolution was taking a more moderate course, the guillotine was removed from the square.

The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique. Classical ballet as we know it today arose within the Paris Opera as the Paris Opera Ballet and has remained an integral and important part of the company. Currently called the Opéra National de Paris, it primarily produces operas at its modern theatre Opéra Bastille which opened in 1989, and ballets and smaller scale and classical operas at the older Palais Garnier which opened in 1875. 

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