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THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
LE SERVICE DE L'ARCHICHANCELIER
(Lots 643-653)
PROVENANCE
Gift of Napoleon I to Archchancellor Jean Jacques Régis de Combacérès, 1807.
Acquired in France, circa 1947.
Purchased by the present owner's father at the auction of the previous owner's estate, circa 1970.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
Dr. Rosemarie Stratmann-Dhöler, "Zur Hochzeit von Stephanie de Beauharnais - Hfische Geschenke aus der Kaiserlichen Porzellanmanufaktur Sèvres", Weltkunst, no. 1, January 1995, pp. 16-19.
Tamara Préaud, et al, The Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory - Alexandre Brongniart and the Triumph of Art and Industry, 1800-1847, Exhibition Catalogue, The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, New York, 1997, p. 334-336, cat. nos. 132 a-e.
The following 11 lots are from a dessert service presented by Emperor Napoleon I to Jean Jacques Régis de Combacérès upon the occasion of the wedding of Stephanie de Beauharnais. The niece by marriage and adopted daughter of the Emperor, Stephanie was married on 7 April 1806 to Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden. Napoleon presented gifts of Sèvres porcelain to those attending the wedding including Combacérès, his Archchancellor. This wedding was politically of great importance to Napoleon, who used members of his family to solidify his position through marriage into ruling families across Europe. The Grand Duke joined the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806. With the help of Napoleon, by 1810 he had united the surrounding separately ruled Margraviates and ecclesiatical states into the unified Grand Duchy of Baden as it stood until 1918.
Jean Jacques Régis de Combacérès (1753-1824) served as second consul under Napoleon I and as Archchancellor of the Empire. He is perhaps best remembered as the leader of the commission which drafted the Napoleonic Code, put into use in 1804 and still the cornerstone of French jurisprudence. In 1808, he was made Duke of Parma. He returned to political power in 1815, serving until 1818 as Minister of Justice during the Restoration.
The ledger line-item noting the service entering the Sèvres magazin de vente on 29 July 1807 describes it as decorated on a purple ground with landscapes, fables and imperial palaces. The delivery records itemize it as comprising 72 plates, 8 dolphin-footed compotes, 8 footed dishes, 4 footed bowls, two eagle-headed sugar-bowls, 2 baskets with snake handles, and 24 plates to be mounted (assiettes à montées). The listing clearly differentiates between the plates painted with insects and those with views, calling the former assiettes à montées and the latter simply assiettes. It is likely that these 24 plates were meant to be mounted as 8 3-tiered stands but that, for whatever reason, never happened.
On 21 May 1997, as lots 101-118, Christie's offered on behalf of the same consignor another large tranche of the service. Taking the 1997 and 2010 consignments as a whole, very few pieces are lacking from the original complement for the service. Missing are: 2 plates, 2 footed dishes, 2 dolphin-footed compotes and two snake-handles baskets, all painted with butterflies and insects on a fond ciel, and one topographical plate. This plate, painted with a view of the Hôtel de Ville, Paris, is currently in a private collection and was included in the Bard Graduate Center exhibition sited above.
The Service de l'Archichancelier is well-documented in the Sèvres archive. Although few painters' marks appear on the plates, careful study of the payment records for the service has made it possible to attribute most of the painted views to the hands of Caron, Lebel, Robert and Swebach. Documentation also exists for those who applied the ground color, burnished the gilt decoration and inscribed the names of the scenes on the backs of the plates. Brief biographies of the major contributors can be found online at www.christies.com.
It has also been possible to trace the print sources for many of the topographical scenes. They are based on engravings found in Voyages pittoresque de Naples et de Sicile by L'Abbé de Saint Non and Vues d'Italie by Charles Bourgeois, copies of which are to be found at Sèvres.
The invaluable assistance in researching this service of Mme. Tamara Préaud, until her recent retirement the archivist at the Sèvres factory, is gratefully acknowledged.
Charles-Marie-Pierre Boitel was active as a gilder at Sèvres 1797-1822.
Christophe-Ferdinand Caron, fils was active as both a painter and a gilder at Sèvres 1792-1815. Although still young, he retired in 1815 due to failing eyesight.
Nicolas-Antoine Lebel was active at Sèvres as a landscape painter 1804-45.
Jean-François Robert was active at Sèvres as a landscape painter 1806-34 and 1836-43.
Jacques-François Swebach, also known as Fontaine or Swebach-Desfontaine, was active at Sèvres as a painter of landscapes and military scenes 1802-1813. He is recorded as having also worked on the Service Encyclopédique and on the Service Particulier de l'Empereur.
A SEVRES (HARD-PASTE) PORCELAIN FONDS POURPRE ET CIEL PART DESSERT SERVICE (LE SERVICE DE L'ARCHICHANCELIER)
IRON-RED STENCILED MARK WITH THE DATE CYPHER FOR 1807 TO EACH PIECE, PAINTED BY CARON, GILT BY BOITEL, THE GROUND COLOUR BY GODIN, AÎNÉ, VARIOUS INCISED MARKS
Details
A SEVRES (HARD-PASTE) PORCELAIN FONDS POURPRE ET CIEL PART DESSERT SERVICE (LE SERVICE DE L'ARCHICHANCELIER)
Iron-red stenciled mark with the date cypher for 1807 to each piece, painted by Caron, gilt by Boitel, the ground colour by Godin, aîné, various incised marks
The serving pieces and assiettes à monter painted in colors with scattered insects on a fond ciel ground, the dessert plates with scenes identified in French on the underside, the fond pourpre border of each piece gilt with bands of stylized vine and scallops suspending bell flowers and enclosing rosettes, the shade of pourpre inconsistent throughout the service, comprising:
Two navette-shape sugar-bowls and covers on fixed stands (sucrier 'aigle')
Two footed fruit bowls (jatte à fruit coupe à pied)
Two footed bowls (compotier rond coupe à pied)
Four compotes on dolphin feet (compotier rond à dauphins)
Four dessert plates painted with scattered butterflies and other insects (assiette à montée)
Five dessert plates, each painted with a fable set in a topographical Italian view (assiette 'uni'), including: no. 12. Vue des Cascade finne grande. La Riviere et le torrent., no. 48. Vüe d'un chemin qui conduit à Dt. Antoine de Pouzzoles. Les deux Mulets., no. 20. Grotte ancienne près la ville de Mandurienne Esope explique un testament., no. 57. Vüe d'une ancienne Porte de Benevent. l'Ane le Meunier et son fils., no. 55. Hermitage de Tropoea dans la Calabre ulterieure. l'Homme et son image., 9¼ in. (23.5 cm.) diameter
A topographical dessert plate painted with a view of les Promenades du Palais des Tuileries. (assiette 'uni') (22)
Iron-red stenciled mark with the date cypher for 1807 to each piece, painted by Caron, gilt by Boitel, the ground colour by Godin, aîné, various incised marks
The serving pieces and assiettes à monter painted in colors with scattered insects on a fond ciel ground, the dessert plates with scenes identified in French on the underside, the fond pourpre border of each piece gilt with bands of stylized vine and scallops suspending bell flowers and enclosing rosettes, the shade of pourpre inconsistent throughout the service, comprising:
Two navette-shape sugar-bowls and covers on fixed stands (sucrier 'aigle')
Two footed fruit bowls (jatte à fruit coupe à pied)
Two footed bowls (compotier rond coupe à pied)
Four compotes on dolphin feet (compotier rond à dauphins)
Four dessert plates painted with scattered butterflies and other insects (assiette à montée)
Five dessert plates, each painted with a fable set in a topographical Italian view (assiette 'uni'), including: no. 12. Vue des Cascade finne grande. La Riviere et le torrent., no. 48. Vüe d'un chemin qui conduit à Dt. Antoine de Pouzzoles. Les deux Mulets., no. 20. Grotte ancienne près la ville de Mandurienne Esope explique un testament., no. 57. Vüe d'une ancienne Porte de Benevent. l'Ane le Meunier et son fils., no. 55. Hermitage de Tropoea dans la Calabre ulterieure. l'Homme et son image., 9¼ in. (23.5 cm.) diameter
A topographical dessert plate painted with a view of les Promenades du Palais des Tuileries. (assiette 'uni') (22)
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