1860s ~ CHOISY-Le-ROI (Hb & cie) ~ French Antique Ironstone Collectible Talking Plate ~ Musical Singing Plate

This lovely colorful French Antique Ironstone Decorative Collectible Talking (Singing) Plate was made by famous French manufacturer of Earthware (Faiencerie), Choisy-le-Roi, in terre de fer (HB & cie) in the mid 1800s (EN FAIENCE). 

“Talking/Signing” plates were manufactured in large numbers in the 19th century, they illustrate a great moments and the daily life of the past. Military, revolutionary, historical, religious, geographical, either formally or humorous, monochrome or polychrome, they are real gems. In this case it is a musical signing plates

This antique plate is a lovely it has vivid colorful scenes with an green and gold bordered trim with brown lettering on cream ivory ironstone.

I have 4 lovely musical scenes. The scenes numbered below for tracking purposes and translated to English.

#1 - "AU CLAIR DE LA LUNE" ("By the Light of the Moon"). This plate has the lyrics of a French folk song of the 18th century. Its composer and lyricist are unknown. Its simple melody is commonly taught to beginners learning an instrument.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_clair_de_la_lune

#2 - "LE BON ROI DAGOBERT" ("Good King Dagobert"), also called "Le roi Dagobert a mis sa culotte à l’envers", is an old French song featuring King Dagobert (roi Dagobert) and Saint Eligius (saint Éloi), two historical people. The song was created in the 1750s and was intended to ridicule royalty. It was inspired by tales of debauchery of the life of Dagobert. For its hourly chime, the clock of the town hall in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis alternates between two different tunes, "Le bon roi Dagobert" and "Le temps des cerises".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_bon_roi_Dagobert_(song)

#4 - "Meur DUMOLLET - Bon voyage" (Have a nice trip Mr Dumollet) was written byFrench singer Marc-Antoine-Madeleine Désaugiers in the 19th century depicting the madness of the act 'The Departure for Saint-Malo' played for the first time on July 25, 1809 and has remained famous until today. Those who know this song now often do not know the author. It is on its air that sung with the fifties the air of Carnival tirelessly repeated during the great Carnival of Dunkirk.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc-Antoine-Madeleine_D%C3%A9saugiers#Bon_voyage_Monsieur_Dumollet

#12 -"MALBROUGH" - Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre or Malbrook s'en va-t-en guerre ("Marlborough Has Left for the War" also known as Mort et convoi de l'invincible Malbrough, "The Death and Burial of the Invincible Marlbrough") is one of the most popular folk songs in French. It was written on a false rumour of that event after the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709, the bloodiest battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. It tells how Marlborough's wife, awaiting his return from battle, is given the news of her husband's death. It also tells that he was buried and that a nightingale sang over his grave.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlbrough_s%27en_va-t-en_guerre

They make a great collectors plate. You can hang it one the wall for decoration or use it with anything for serving appetizers, dessert or finger food at a dinner parties.

PLEASE NOTE:  This listing price is for ONE 1 plate. The listing is programmed to allow you to select either the type plate N then quantity left in stock you wish to purchase so you can add them to your shopping cart.     

--- Condition ---

They are overall in good vintage condition due to the age. There are certainly signs of usage and they all have lovely imperfections such as manufacturing/glazing spots/marks on the surface, pattern fading/bleeding in areas (blue marks in the surface), there are areas around the edges of wearing down of the protection glaze or tiny marks where there is no varnish (surface not smooth), there is even signs of crazing on all the plates and plate # 1 has a faint hairline crack on the edge of the plate mostly visible from the back side as shown in the photos. Please ask questions if you are unsure and PLEASE use ZOOM to review the detail especially the photo collages.

**Special Note about aged Porcelain**
If you are not accustomed to this ‘look’, google crazing and the aging process of porcelain. The Japanese use crazing to add an artistic look to their pieces whereas antiques go through the natural aging process. Crazing is cracking in the surface of the plate due to use sometimes it's even and is called the crackle look and other times it is random.

These items are old, were used and were manufactured at a time when processes were less under control as today. Therefore, in addition to the defects identified and reported in the ad, slight dimensional differences or deviations in the color or in the decoration between the different parts could be noted. Besides, some little marks or small manufacturing imperfections such as minor defects in the glaze or in the varnish etc., may also be observed.

--- Measurements & Weight ---

Approximate dimensions 20 cm diameter x 1.5 cm height & 255 grams each not including packaging weight

--- Additional Notes ---

All items are of vintage quality and will show some signs of age. As it is my main priority to have very happy customers, I try my best to inspect, clean and describe very carefully the vintage condition of my product listings and any exceptional wear on a piece. If you have any doubt, please do not hesitate to contact me directly, I prefer to provide you with as much detail to ensure your complete satisfaction.

If by chance you receive an item you are unhappy with it in any way, please contact us immediately and I will do our utmost to resolve the problem. On the other hand, if you are happy, I would also love to know and very much appreciate you leaving a review on my shop page!!

I also welcome special requests that I can keep in mind when sourcing for my shop

----- Additional Shipping information ----

WORLDWIDE SHIPPING AVAILABLE.  I ship all my products using the French Postal Service (La Poste). For larger items, I ship using Colissmo (La Poste International service) which includes tracking, minimum insurance and estimated delivery dates (which is normally faster than the processing times in my policy section). If you want additional information about insurance or tracking for smaller items, please contact me for details on the supplemental change. 

If you live France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, Great Britain, Portugal, Germany and Austria, I can use Mondial Relay to reduce the shipping charge. If you prefer this option, please contact me for new shipping price quote.

I am also willing to use Happy Post upon request and where ship location is offered in their service plan.  

All items are shipped from France to all over the world and I welcome multiple orders to consolidate shipments to help reduce shipping fees, where possible.

To be economically responsible and not charge handling fees, when available, I try to use recycled materials for my packaging while being mindful that the materials are suitable to ensure the safest expedition to protect your purchase during the delivery process. I pack very carefully especially fragile items and I check to make sure I'm using the most cost efficient method.