Joseph Fauchier (1687-1751) was a potter born in Peyruis, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, who founded his own pottery in Marseilles in 1730 (it closed in 1795). He had first trained at the Clérissy factory and then at the Héraud-Leroy factory (between 1710 and 1728). Until 1750, his establishment became one of the most important in the area, employing highly talented artists. He began by producing small-sized sculptures, ornate blue tableware in the style of Bérain and Rouen, and also garlands, rocailles and foliage in the style of Olérys, in Moustiers. One of the themes he recreated – although not the most recurrent – was the chinoiserie, which preceded his characteristic naturalistic flower decoration.

These two plates with slightly lobed rims feature a border of floral garlands combined with rocaille elements that occupy the entire brim. The centre of one of the pieces depicts an exotic figure in a hat, seated and smoking a long pipe, amidst flowering branches and insects. The other plate shows a figure seated in an oriental manner on a platform and under a canopy in the process of finishing a floral arrangement. The polychromy of the scenes is elegant and not very strident.