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A PAIR OF BERLIN (K.P.M.) PORCELAIN KRATER VASES CIRCA 1825, BLUE SCEPTRE MARKS, BROWN STENCILLED EAGLE OVER K.P.M MARK TO ONE AND RED DOT MARK TO THE OTHER Each painted to each side with a simulated micromosaic oval panel with birds within an octagonal frame below a formal gilt border, the lower part gold ground, on a square blue plinth base 13 ? in. (34.4 cm.) high
Micro-mosaic decoration, which evoked the lavish decorations of antiquity, became enormously popular during the 18th century. At the end of the century, the technique of making micro-mosaics was refined and perfected in the Vatican Mosaic Workshop. Some of the badly paid workers began to take commissions on the side, and this was further stimulated by the Napoleonic occupation which boosted the secular art trade. Napoleon re-named the Vatican workshops the Studio Imperiale del Mosaico and ordered the 'Shield of Achilles' table, now at Versailles. By 1810 there were twenty small independent workshops in the area around the Spanish Steps, all of which were producing small souvenirs with micro-mosaic decoration. As these objects were so easily carried, the fashion for them began to spread rapidly, and a few years later this trade boomed even further with the greater prosperity brought about by the end of the Napoleonic wars. A wide variety of objects, including table-tops, snuff-boxes, plaques and jewellery were decorated with a wide variety of subject matter including topographical views, portraits, ornithological subjects, reproductions of antique sculptures or works by Renaissance masters. For a full discussion of this technique and its history, see Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel et. al, 'The Gilbert Collection, Micromosaics' Catalogue, London, 2000.