AN IMPORTANT SET OF SIX LIMOGES ENAMEL PLATES, circa 1570, monogrammed 'PC' for Pierre Courteys

AN IMPORTANT SET OF SIX LIMOGES ENAMEL PLATES, circa 1570, monogrammed 'PC' for Pierre Courteys (Courtois), enamelled en grisaille with the "Labours of the Month", and the reverse with strapwork and the signs of the Zodiac, 71/4" dia. March: decorated with a figure on horseback with a longbow hunting a stag with an attendant blowing a horn, with hounds and rabbits to the foreground and a castle and town in the distance, the border decorated with hunting horns, hounds and similar symbols, the reverse decorated with a bull in a cartouche (Taurus). May: Musicians in an arcadian landscape, the reverse with two putti in a cartouche (Gemini). June: Sheep shearing in a rural landscape, the reverse with a lobster in a cartouche (Cancer). July: Hay making by a river, the reverse with a lion in a cartouche (Leo). August: Harvesting with a village beyond, the reverse with a winged angel holding three wheatears in a cartouche (Virgo). September: Wine making and harvesting, the reverse with balance scales in a cartouche (Libra) (6).. See illustrations and front cover. Provenance: A lady of title, Dorset.. Similar calendar plates attributed to Pierre Courteys can be seen in the collections of the Louvre, Paris, the Musee des Beaux-Arts, Lyons, The Wallace Collection, Manchester Square, London and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The source for these images is thought to be derived from prints by Etienne de Laune.. We are grateful to the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, for their assistance with cataloguing this lot