The Alcora manufactory was founded in 1727 by the 9th Count of Aranda on land he owned in what is now the province of Castellón. The aim was to create a luxury earthenware and porcelain factory that would compete with foreign manufactories. Royal privileges, including tax exemption on the export of pieces and the free entry of materials from abroad, allowed this manufactory to operate until the middle of the 19th century despite the fact that it barely made any profits.

Throughout its existence, the factory became a model of organisation and a point of reference in terms of aesthetics thanks to the recruitment of foreign specialists, artists and “secretists” who claimed to know the secret of porcelain manufacture. In addition, the creation of an apprentice academy enabled the manufactory to continue to provide top quality production.

From its foundation and throughout its first period (1727-1749), it was run by foreign artists who were responsible for setting the standard for the different ornamental styles. Édouard Roux, director of the factory between 1728 and 1735, introduced decorative motifs and forms from the manufactories of southern France. All these models were faithfully copied at Alcora and, as they spread throughout the rest of the country, they were assimilated by other pottery centres in more popular versions.

This plate is in the Bérain style, named after its creator Jean Bérain (1640-1711), decorator to the court of Louis XIV. Its origins go back to classical antiquity. During the 16th century, frescoes decorated with grotesques were discovered in Nero’s house, the Domus Aurea, which inspired Raphael when he decorated the loggias of the Vatican. These ornaments are characterised by symmetrical, stately and grandiloquent designs based on arabesques, hangings, baldachins, sphinxes, water features, floral vases, busts, monkeys, garlands, lambrequins, caryatids, mermaids and mascarons. The rigorously drawn lace borders, inspired by the decoration of books and the engravings of jewellers and ornamentalists, surround the symmetrical compositions of grotesques. This shows how ornamental motifs from Renaissance Italy were integrated into the French Baroque spirit.

On this plate, the composition of blue-chiaroscuro grotesques in the central part is surrounded by a Bérain-style lace that runs along the entire length of the rim. During the early period, tableware such as this was characterised by its baroque sobriety, the result of the evolution of Renaissance patterns.