Fornasetti for Fleming Joffe “Iguana and Chicken Breasts” Recipe Plate, 1960s

A rare 1960s Piero Fornasetti for Fleming Joffe Ltd. “Iguana and Chicken Breasts” recipe hand-painted and gilt porcelain “Cook Plate”. Wonderfully wry recipe for an absurdly improbable dish surrounds the surreal image of a pepper mill-cranking iguana done in Fornasetti’s signature illustrative style. Decorated by hand in black with gilt accents on white porcelain ground. Reverse marked “Fleming Joffe Ltd. Cook Plates – Especially Made by Fornasetti – Milano – Made in Italy”, with Fornasetti logo and an image of a crocodile encircling two spoons. One of fourteen in a series of very limited production that was commissioned of Fornasetti by boutique New York leather goods company Fleming Joffe. The series ran from the early 1960s to the early 1970s and was presented exclusively to their very best clients, with a newly designed plate being gifted each New Year. They originally came in a custom square box with a note that read: “We are happy to send you as a New Year’s present the plate[s] N. [1, 2, etc.] of the series created especially for us by Piero Fornasetti in Milano, Italy. Each year you will receive more until we reach the end of the series. We wish you and your family a very happy New Year. Fleming Joffe Ltd.” Dimensions Height: 1 in. Diameter: 10 in. Condition Good Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. Good vintage condition with mostly light signs of wear. Minor losses to text that only affects legibility of a couple words. A tiny bit of decoration loss. Some very faint/light utensil marks. Reverse with a yellow ring stain and a small chip on rim.