Large Nevers Dish With Green Parrot Decor

Very beautiful Nevers earthenware dish with rare decoration of the green parrot.
Illustration of the heroic poem "the journey of the parrot of the visitation of Nevers" 18th century.
Large dish with a bird in thick bas-relief, decoration on the wing of parrots in flight and plants.
Extract from the poem under the perch and monogram Rx
Signature on the reverse: by R. at (green knot) A MONTAGNON GM 29

Ver-Vert was a parrot taken in by the sisters of the convent of the Visitation of Nevers during the first half of the 18th century. He was loved, pampered and fed by the Visitandines who transferred to him their excess of love and their desire to take care of someone. Ver-Vert was a devout parrot, reciting the hymns and even his blessing at each meal. Listening and participating in the lessons given to the young novices, he acquired the same knowledge as them and even ended up knowing as much as the more experienced sisters. Ver-Vert listened attentively to the spiritual life of the convent. Ver-Vert became a local celebrity that all of Nevers talked about. Then, his fame reached Moulins. People came to listen to him discourse on religious themes and recite the holy texts that he knew by heart. But Ver-Vert was also very fat, full of the delicious dishes offered to him by the sisters of the convent. The Convent of the Visitation of Nantes heard so much about Ver-Vert that it asked for him to come and stay there. The debate was bitter among the Visitandines of Nivernais who could not accept losing, even for a few weeks, their beloved Ver-Vert. The mothers superiors decided to send the bird to Nantes for two weeks. He took one of the frequent boats joining the mouth of the Loire. On this latter, he rubbed shoulders with soldiers, prostitutes and other passengers, in addition to the boatmen. He heard them talking, swearing and saying the worst blasphemies. Ver-Vert remained silent, not knowing what to do or what to say in such company. Arriving at the convent of Nantes, all the nuns, impatient, came to listen to this parrot so pious and so learned from the first evening. But Ver-Vert knew nothing but the slang, the insults and blasphemies that he had learned from the boatmen, the prostitutes and the soldiers. The scandal was horrible, the sisters of Nantes wanted to send him back immediately to Nevers and Ver-Vert took a boat back to Nevers. Arriving at his first convent, he was judged, chained to his cage and narrowly escaped the death penalty for blasphemy. He was finally sentenced to two months of abstinence, three months of retreat and four months of silence. He became pious and serious again and then returned to his habits of the Nièvre. One day, however, he collapsed on the treats that were offered to him every day and death came to get him there. Ver-Vert is a long poem written by Jean-Baptiste Gresset in 1734 which was very successful in the 18th century until the middle of the 19th century. It gave rise to numerous adaptations, revivals and iconographic works. (Cf: https://3kleinegrenouilles.com/ver-vert-perroquet/)