Flora Danica service
A service of 1,800 pieces in which every plate bears an exactly depicted Danish plant.
The service was probably intended as a gift to Catherine the Great but stayed in Denmark when she died in 1796. The painter Bayer almost lost his sight on the work. Pieces are at Rosenborg Castle and Christiansborg.
Materials: Hard-paste porcelain, enamels, gold
Manufacture: Each subject was hand-painted after engravings in the botanical work Flora Danica, with the Latin name beneath.
The plants are botanically correct, with roots, flowers and seeds.
The jagged, pierced edges with gilding.