ID request Faience plate

Hello, I'm a new member. The reason for this threat is this faience plate, which I believe to be tin glazed, marked with an 'M'. My first guess is Italian. I'ld highly appreciate to hear your opinion in case you happen to recognize the style or age of this colorful plate. Thank you for your time and effort.

 

Olive branches on the reversed side:

 

nice photo's......

 

Or laurel.

 

or smudges.....

why bother to mess up the back of the plate that way....it looks childish..?

is that some kinda known style or something???

 

That would be mine as well. It is very charming, but I can't help, sorry.

I agree.

The decorations are all painted in a rather casual way, which makes you focus on the cartouche with the Madonna and child. Italian ceramics are often decorated that way. As if they think 'out of sight, out of mind'.
The Madonna and child were also painted in a 'free' style, with two feet and the Madonna's left hand deliberately crossing over the cartouche. They were probably painted by one of the better painters, the decorations by his pupils.
This was never intended to be a masterpiece, but rather a charming piece by an accomplished painter and his workshop.

 

Vogel, the person we usually asked about items like this has just passed away. He was a true expert and kind and generous with his knowledge.
But maybe @i need help , @Debora , @aaroncab , @clutteredcloset49 or @gerspee can help.

 

@i need help I tagged you in the previous post, but it didn't seem to work. Hope this will. Oh, I see what happened, tagged you twice now.

 

Sorry to hear one of the experts isn't among us anymore. Nevertheless, you seemed to have learned a lot from him. I'm grateful for all comments.

 

Yes it is.

 

Flattered but I don't know much about ceramics. I would think, because of its exuberance, the plate was Italian but the colorway does look like it could be Spanish. Does anyone else see cactus and cactus fruit in the border?

Debora

 

Possibly. Not sure if that narrows it down though, you see cacti in most, maybe all, Mediterranean countries. There are many on Malta.
Not sure if this is Maltese. Malta has a mix of styles from both sides of the Med, some more Italian, some more North African, but all more 'controlled' than this plate.

Maltese:

 

Of course, cacti are found all around the Mediterranean but an unusual design motif, I'd think. Malta certainly is an idea.

Debora

 

I don't think Maltese, given the free style of painting. On to Malta's close neighbour, Sicily. Another island with a lot of cacti.
The plate lower left has a similar free style, but no Madonna's as yet:

https://www.ceramichemaremoro.com/en/shop/small-plates-sicilian-ceramic-set-agira/?v=79cba1185463

More about Caltagirone, Sicily's ceramics capital:
http://slowitaly.yourguidetoitaly.com/2014/10/caltagirone-the-colorful-capital-of-ceramics/

Halfway down the page I found this tile with a church on it:



Caltagirone has a ceramics museum, Museo Regionale della Ceramica. They have a facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Museo-Regionale-della-Ceramica-Caltagirone-84094961769/
Contact seems to be through the regional cultural hub in Catania, contact info at the bottom of this page:
http://poloregionalecatania.net/

I hope I am not sending you on a wild goose chase.

 

Not at all; interesting findings, I'ld say. Thank you for the Catania details; seems worth trying.

 

Sorry I'm not going to be much help. I'd have thought Italy or Spain also though it looks pretty recent to me so can't rule out a Chinese copy of something. Thinking about the loss of our lovely Walter.

 

Sadly, I can't help any more than the info already given here - agree on most likely Italian.