THREE MAFRA & SONS CALDAS PALISSY WARE MAJOLICA PLATES, INSECT AND REPTILE, LATE 19TH CENTURY, each hand painted and modeled glazed earthenware, from smallest to largest: a footed plate with a coiling serpent and toad on a grassy ground, a second smaller footed plate with a gruesome scene of a snake ensnared in the mouth of a reptile hidden below a mound of grass, a small colorful crocodile and salamander watch, and the largest plate another wild scene of an attack on the serpent, with a medley of insects including millipede, butterfly and salamander on a well modeled grassy ground, verso impressed with crown over, "M. Mafra. Caldas. Portugal." Largest Diameter: 8 1/4" Note: Manuel Mafra (Portuguese 1831-1905). Provenance: Property of an Important Houston Antiques Dealer