A beautiful hand painted Sevres porcelain plaque depicting a court scene, involving 3 young noble ladies and an older lady, greeting two gentlemen visitors. Set behind them is a beautiful painting of a wooded scene. Set in an extremely fine gilt wood and gesso frame. The plaque is of a decent size, and marked on the back with the Sevres mark for 1753. However, this plaque is made of a hard paste porcelain, rather than the soft paste which was used in the 18th century. Signed on the plaque Vinea. Francesco Vinea (1845 - 1902) was an Italian painter, known for his period costume genre subjects. He studied first at the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence, but had to discontinue his studies due to his poverty. He worked for a photographer, also as a designer of illustrated magazines, but returned to Florence and studied under professor Enrico Pollastrini. Circa 1890 43cm High by 49cm Long and 8 and a half cm wide