Faience, or tin-glazed and enamelled earthenware, was first seen in France during the sixteenth century and became popular among the French elite during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. French faience was loved at the court of Louis XIV who used it for huge meals in the gardens of Versailles. Faience can be created from a wide variety of clays and is distinguished by the milky white color achieved by the addition of tin oxide to the glaze. This plate has a beautifully crafted portrait of a woman who might be the famous French actress of Dutch descent Sarah Bernhardt.