Antique French Plate Creil & Montereau La Benediction Nuptiale Wedding Ceremony

This is an antique plate printed in black and blue colours and depicting a priest blessing a couple getting married  The plate was made by the French firm of Creil & Montereau, a firm formed in 1840 through the merger of two companies.  The Creil factory burned down in 1895 and by 1920, Montereau was acquired by Choisy-le-Roi.  The image is captioned “La Benediction Nuptiale” while the back of the plate is marked with the Creil & Montereau “CM” mark.  The plate is made of earthenware.  It measures 8 3/8” in diameter.  It is in good condition with a few small issue - there are edge indents due to a spring tension wire hanger, a small lump of unglazed clay to the upper right image that has allowed some leaching causing a bit of yellow discolouration, visible in the photos and original to the manufacture. In addition, there is an impact hairline on the underside and a discoloured scratch that are not visible on the top side, otherwise, no other chips or cracks and the image is strong and displays very well.

Despite the small issues, this is a charming display piece or serves as an interesting addition to a Creil & Montereau collection…..