1960s Piero Fornasetti Fleming Joffe Porcelain Recipe Plate- Iguana and Chicken Breasts

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An Exotic Dish: Fornasetti's "Iguana and Chicken Breasts" Plate,

Piero Fornasetti and the Recipe for the Absurd.

This magnificent porcelain … Read more An Exotic Dish: Fornasetti's "Iguana and Chicken Breasts" Plate,

Piero Fornasetti and the Recipe for the Absurd.

This magnificent porcelain plate, featuring the wickedly witty recipe "Iguana and Chicken Breasts," is a treasured piece from the limited-edition series created by the iconic Italian designer Piero Fornasetti for the New York leather goods firm, Fleming Joffe Ltd. Dating from the 1960s to 1974, this plate exemplifies Fornasetti's brilliant fusion of classical illustration, Surrealist humor, and decorative art.

The design, executed in Fornasetti’s signature black and white with gilt accents, centers on an anthropomorphic iguana—a decidedly improbable chef—surrounded by the text of its "recipe." This series of fourteen "cook plates" were designed to present "a decidedly improbable recipe" for dishes such as "Python A L'Orange" and "Crocodile Calcutta," poking fun at culinary snobbery and exoticism with sophisticated European flair.

Historical Context: The Fleming Joffe Commission
The plates were not sold, but were an exclusive, high-end New Year's gift presented to the most valued clients of Fleming Joffe. The company—a small but creatively forward-thinking New York leather goods firm—commissioned these pieces over a seven-year period, with clients receiving two new designs each year until the series was complete. The gift was accompanied by a note in a square box, reading:

"We are happy to send you a New Year's present. These plates have been created especially for us by Piero Fornasetti in Milano. Each year you will receive more until the end of the series. We wish you and your family a very happy New Year. Fleming Joffe Ltd."

This commitment to art demonstrated Fleming Joffe's extraordinary approach to branding. They were famous for commissioning major artistic talents like Fornasetti, Andy Warhol (who produced their ads, copy, and showroom décor), and the poet Ogden Nash, who often paired his "bouncy text" with Warhol's drawings. The Fornasetti recipe plate is a classic example of this mid-century synergy between high art and high commerce.

Artist: Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988)

Design: Iguana and Chicken Breasts

Patron: Fleming Joffe Company, New York

Medium: Hand-decorated and Gilt Porcelain

Period: 1960s-1974

Diameter: 10 1/4 inches

These plates remain highly collectible today, not just as works by Fornasetti, but as key documents of a unique moment in 20th-century American art patronage.

(Ref: NY9101C-arx) See less