Plate with the Month of May

This plate, along with Walters 44.190, are from a series depicting characteristic activities of the 12 months. September is represented by wine-making: a bearded peasant treads grapes that two others bring in baskets from the arbor in the rear. May is represented by a fashionable lady and gentleman on horseback accompanied by a footman and a dog. However, there is a confusion in the signs of the zodiac--for example, the lion encircled in this border begins its rule July 23, not in May-perhaps the result of inattention by a shop assistant.

The date and monogram of Pierre Reymond, the important Limoges enameler, are on the back. The coat of arms on the rim belongs to the powerful Seguier family, so this dessert service for 12 must have been made for a member of that family, probably Pierre Seguier (1504-80).

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Hollingworth Magniac, Colworth, Bedfordshire, England, by purchase; Charles Magniac, Colworth, 1867, by inheritance; Sale, Christie's, London, July 2, 1892, no. 392; Charles Borradaile, Brighton, 1892, by purchase; George Robinson Harding, London, [date of acquisition unknown] by purchase; Henry Walters, Baltimore, [date of acquisition unknown] by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.