226. An important Naples plate, possibly from the Servizio delle Vedute Napolitane, called Dell'Oca, circa 1792 Of moulded shape, the central medallion with a topographical view of the fontana di Santa Sofia a Benevento, all surrounded by gilt flower festoons and a red and blue border, 24.5cm diam, crowned N in underglaze-blue Provenance Ferdinand IV, King of Naples and the Two Sicilies; With Don Peppino Giglio; Collezione Procida Mirabelli di Lauro, Naples, no. 37-II, acquired from the above in 1964 and sold at Bonhams London, 6 July 2010, lot 73 Literature Mauri, Luigi, Fragili Emozioni: Porcellane europee nel gusto di un collezionista lombardo, Milan, 2013, p. 10, cat. 3 Although the gilt border around the miniature painting on the cavetto differs from the borders on the plates of this service, it is most likely to be part of it. It has been suggested that this plate and the following could have been trial pieces for the service. Another plate from this service with the same view but with the more opulent gilt border is illustrated in A. Mottola Molfino, L'arte della Porcellana in Italia, 1976, plate LII. Here, the author refers to the importance of the engravings as published in the famous volumes of J.C.R. De Saint-Non, Voyage pittoresque ou description des Royaumes de Naples et Sicilie, 1781–86, which formed the main source for the topographical views on this service. These views also inspired other artists such as C.W. Weisbrod and E.de Ghendt to create etchings of this subject. The use of these views on porcelain is strongly aligned with the fashion for the romantic topographical views as painted by famous artists such as Filip Hackert and Antonio Jolie (Motola Molfino, op.cit., cat.no. 280).