Giraffe dish in earthenware from Les Islettes - Bois d'Epense, circa 1827

Earthenware dish from Les Islettes decorated with a small giraffe motif with its black guardian wearing a turban, palm tree on the left, green terrace.
Circa 1827.
Diameter: 12 inches.
Some enamel missing around the edge.
The Islettes factory, located in eastern France, has capitalized on the richness of animal diversity by offering a variety of animal designs ranging from farmyard animals to the most exotic creatures. This five-lobed dish, measuring 30.8 centimeters in diameter, features the ultimate exotic animal: the giraffe. Coming from distant lands with its extraordinary size, long neck, and spotted coat, it aroused the curiosity of Westerners. Held on a lead by its keeper, this two-and-a-half-year-old female giraffe came from Nubia, a distant region bordering the Nile.
Leaving the city of Alexandria, she arrived at the port of Marseille in November 1826. From the south of France, she traveled to Paris to be presented to King Charles X. Escorted by the director of the Jardin des Plantes museum, she arrived in the heart of the capital on June 30, 1827, to the amazement of Parisians, before being exhibited at Saint-Cloud in front of the king. Once the royal visit was over, she was housed in the Jardin des Plantes. The appearance of the giraffe, a unique and distant animal, sparked a trend that was evident in all areas, as can be seen in 19th-century ceramics, fashion, and literature. The giraffe motif thus became a leitmotif of the first quarter of the 19th century.