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Look into the well of this plate and a young lady in a lace cap materialises out of the glaze, fan in hand, sleeves bristling with ribbon, as if lit from behind. That is emaux ombrants, the shadow-enamel trick patented by the Baron du Tremblay: the scene is stamped in intaglio and flooded with translucent teal glaze, so the deep cuts read dark and the shallow ones glow. No paint, no transfer, just light and depth. The lobed rim carries moulded rocaille cartouches and a chain border inside a scalloped edge, all in that unmistakable Rubelles blue-green. | SPECS: Approx. 8 1/4 in. diameter *(confirm)*; French majolica (glazed earthenware) with intaglio emaux ombrants decoration; Maker: Rubelles, Seine-et-Marne, France, c. 1840-1858. | HISTORY: The faiencerie at Rubelles, near Melun, operated for barely two decades before its moulds passed to Sarreguemines in 1858. Its shadow-enamel wares were the sensation of the mid-Victorian exhibitions and are among the most collected of all French maj