Page 221 - Beholding Liberty!

HALL OF THE TROPHIES
ΙΙ.3.9
French factory at Montereau
Konstantinos Kanaris on a fire-ship, ca. 1826-30
faience plate, diameter 21.8 cm
inscribed: CONSTANTIN CANARIS SUR LE BRULOT. (low centre) CANARIS / FABVIER // MIAULIS / BYRON // BOTZARIS / EYNARD (on periphery, in pairs, within wreaths) – LA CROIX / LIBERTÉ / (on periphery, by way of banners, alternately) Hellenic Parliament Art Collection, inv. n. 455
MONTEREAU POTTERY, at the confluence of the Yonne and Seine Rivers, was active since the mid-eighteenth century; at the time of the Greek Rev- olution it was owned by Saint-Cricq-Casaux and man- aged by Louis Leboeuf and Tribault.
Around 1826-30, a series of black and white faience plates was released, with geometric patterns around the edge and philhellenic decoration printed in the cen- tre. The subjects were drawn – as those of the Choisy- le-Roy series [cat. nos II.1.24-27] – from the lithographs produced by the painter and printmaker Henri-Charles [Karl] Loeillot [Loeillot-Hartwing] (1798-1864) in 1824- 25 under the title Battles for Greek Independence, printed by Bové in Paris.
The finely detailed images on these decorative plates are accompanied by inscriptions at the bottom; set within wreaths around the edge are listed (in French) the names of Greek and philhellenic heroes: Kanaris with Favier, Miaoulis with Byron, Botsaris with Eynard, around banners with the Cross and Liberty.
The images focus on major figures of the War in action during celebrated episodes.
Here, Konstantinos Kanaris is depicted on a fireship, standing, in the centre, with his comrades-in-arms, left, and boats, in the background.
SCENES AND FIGURES OF FREEDOM The consolidation of the Struggle 221