Antique Malicorne French Faience Plate Roberts 1783 Paris Manned Balloon Flight

  

9 1/4" diameter at the widest point x 1 1/4" height to top of rim. The condition is very good. As with all early French faience the Tin Glaze produces a fantastic White Finish. The applied colors were applied on top of the white.

As expected, there are small bubbles and spots where color did nor adhere to the white. Also a few spots where white was not applied.

There is a small blurred area of dark blue on the backof the plate. There there may have been some small text or signature?

The subject of this commemorative plate is quite important in the field of Ballooning. On December 1, 1783, just ten days after the first hot air balloon ride, the first gas balloon was launched by physicist Jacques Alexander Charles and Nicholas Louis Robert. As with the first hot air ballon flight, this lighter than air gas Balloon flight started in Paris, France. The flight lasted 2½ hours and covered a distance of 25 miles.