DECOR BOIS

(French: wood decoration), in decorative arts, trompe l'oeil decoration of porcelain and faience to simulate grained and knotted wood with the likeness of an engraving nailed to it. This device appeared in the mid-18th century on cups, plates, and jars from the French factories of Niderviller and Tournai; it became a specialty of the Thuringian factory of Gera at the end of the century. This ingenious but not entirely apposite way of decorating porcelain was short-lived and never widespread.