•D2529. Pair of Blue and White Rectangular Plaques

Delft, circa 1690

One painted with a Greek mythological scene with Meleager standing with his left leg on the Calydonian Boar’s body, offering its head to Atalanta seated beneath a tree and reaching out with both hands, set against a landscape with buildings, shrubbery, and rocks, the other plaque portrays three male figures wearing hats in conversation before a tree and rocky terrain, with two figures walking in the background,one carrying a bag and a stick, mountains rising in the distance, and shrubbery in the foreground, each with a self-frame molded with a flowering vine interrupted at the top and bottom with a shell device, at the sides with a large blossom and at each corner with a serrated leaf, the top affixed with a demilune-shaped pediment pierced with a hole for suspension; the reverse of each unglazed.

DIMENSIONS
Height: 19 cm. (7.5 in.);
Width: 19.5 cm. (7.7 in.)

PROVENANCE
Sold at Frederik Muller & Cie, Amsterdam, April 19, 1956, lot no. 138;
M.P. Voûte Collection, Baarn

LITERATURE
Illustrated as support images in Aronson 2010, p. 55, fig. 1

NOTE
The scene depicted on one of the plaques illustrates the Greek myth of Meleager and Atalanta hunting the Calydonian Boar, a story famously recounted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Meleager, the son of King Oeneus of Calydon and Althaea (or, in some versions, the war god Ares), was fated to live only as long as a specific log remained unburned—a prophecy that his mother sought to avert by hiding the log. Atalanta, daughter of King Iasus, was abandoned at birth because her father desired a son, only to be nurtured by a she-bear and raised to become a highly skilled hunter.

The myth begins when the goddess Artemis sends the monstrous Calydonian Boar to punish King Oeneus for neglecting her in his offerings. Meleager assembled renowned hunters, including Atalanta, to defeat the creature. Atalanta was the first to wound the boar, showcasing her unmatched skill and bravery. After the boar was slain, Meleager, enamored with Atalanta, awarded her the boar’s head, igniting a deadly quarrel with his uncles, whom he killed in the ensuing conflict. Grief-stricken by the loss of her brothers, Althaea cursed Meleager and burned the fateful log, ending his life as prophesied. Atalanta, however, found recognition and acceptance from her father after presenting him with the boar’s hide, securing a less tragic conclusion to her story.

This tale of bravery, skill, and divine retribution inspired artists through the centuries, including Delft potters who immortalized the myth in their works. The seated boar figurine on pages 125-127 of this publication is a prime example, symbolizing the Calydonian Boar and preserving this enduring narrative in Delftware artistry.

SIMILAR EXAMPLES
A pair of plaques with similar dimensions and frame, both painted with Biblical scenes is illustrated in Aronson 2010, p. 55 no. 26. Another example of this particular model, featuring a biblical scene, was sold at the Zeeuws Veilinghuis in Middelburg on November 13, 2023, as lot 1347. Another similair pair of larger rectangular plaques is illustrated in Aronson, Porcelain Paintings, 2022, pp. 10–11. A comparable pair is part of the Rijksmuseum collection, Amsterdam with inv. nos. BK-1998-44-A+B. One from the Fétis Collection in Brussels is depicted in Henry Havard, 1909, p. 177. Another example, featuring a different scene, was sold at Frederik Muller & Cie as lot 659 in the auction held from April 23–28, 1911. Lastly, an example of this type, sold as lot 817, was offered by Lempertz, though the exact date of the auction is unknown.