VIOLA E ORO Porcelain Set 1948 Painted by Gabriella La Torre for her daughter Nicoletta La Torre. Design adapted from the Compagnie des Indes. Signed Consists of 49 pieces: - 14 tea or broth cups, diam. 9.5 cm - 15 saucers, diam. 15 cm - 2 bowls, diam. 11 cm - 6 large dinner plates, diam. 25 cm (gilding missing) - cake plate on a stand, diameter 22.5 cm - serving plate, diameter 24 cm - 4 dessert plates, diameter 21.5 cm - 6 dessert plates, diameter 20 cm Provenance: Collection of the artist’s family. Assembled under the direction of Fabrizio La Torre, son of Gabriella La Torre, this collection reflects a desire to reconstruct a body of work that brings together the artist’s archives and pieces produced by Hermès. Gabriella La Torre (Rome, 1894–1976) was a porcelain painter. Over several decades, she developed a distinctive body of work inspired in particular by her love of the decorative arts and antique porcelain, whose designs she studied and collected. Beginning in 1957, she collaborated with Hermès, for which she created numerous designs that gave rise to silk scarves, ready-to-wear pieces, and porcelain objects. Her creative vision gave rise to patterns such as “Insects,” “Flowers and Braids,” “Oranges and Lemons,” “Cherries,” “Roosters,” and “Old China.”