Oval dish in porcelain of Naples (Real Fabbrica... Lot 40

Oval dish in porcelain of Naples (Real Fabbrica Ferdinandea) of the end of the 18th century, around 1790. With polychrome and gold decoration in the center of two characters and a sphinx in a landscape in a gold oval cartouche, the wing of a frieze in white, black and gold relief of leafy garlands in rectangular cartouches and heads of flowers in medallions interspersed, gold fillet on the edge (firing faults, minor wear). L : 35 cm Provenance : from the service of the Duchess of Parma. This dish corresponds to number 24 of the book published at the time of the production of the service and which accompanied the delivery when it was royal; it is described as follows: "S'è voluto qui esprimere la sfinge Tebana, che con umana favella propone l'enigma della vita umana ad Edipo, il quale sulla via smotato da cavallo ne medita attentamente la riposta, e la vince. Dietro a lui s'arresta il cavallo, con un uomo armato, che gli regge il freno." This service included more than a hundred pieces, and included a wide variety of shapes and in particular: tureens on high trays, iceboxes, sugar bowls, dishes and compotes of different shapes and hollow and flat plates. For a complete study of this service, see the article by Angela Carola-Perrotti, Servizio della Duchessa di Parma e il suo Dessert, in the exhibition catalog Le Porcellane dei Duchi di Parma, Capolavori delle grandi manifatture del'700 europeo, Parma, 2021, pp.63-79. For a dish of the same shape and with similar decoration, preserved in the R. Russo collection in London, see the same article. Russo collection in London, see the same publication, p. 194.