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Lot Essay
This vase was one of a pair which appear in the Sèvres records on 21 December 1829 as ‘2 vases Clodion 2°, culot ornementés, dédiés aux bienfaiteurs de l’humanité, portrait de Saint Vincent de Paul et Howard’. They are recorded in the sales registers at a cost of 1000 francs each and were presented to ‘le baron PREVOST’ on 10 April 1830.
The painting of trompe l'oeil cameos in the manner of antique hardstone cameos had been attempted at Sèvres in the 18th Century, but was not perfected until Alexandre Brongniart's Directorship of the manufactory. His training as a mineralogist could well have influenced the refinement of this technique of producing cameos in imitation of sardonyx, agate, carnelian and other hard stones. The use of cameo decoration also had a particular appeal for Napoleon and he ordered vases and services painted with them. These include two services painted by the artist Jean-Marie Degault with figures from antiquity, each bearing the same name, service 'Iconographique'. The first was delivered in 1811 to Napoleon's uncle, Cardinal Fesch, the second was delivered to 'the court of Rome' in September 1819.
Following the Restoration of the Monarchy, cameo designs continued to be adapted at the Sèvres manufactory for propaganda purposes, lending an antique 'authenticity' to depictions of great figures from classical antiquity and French history. In order to achieve the greatest authenticity possible, the sources of the designs were chosen with great care. Classical subjects were frequently copied from Ennio-Quirino Visconti's Iconographie grecque (Paris, 1808) or Iconographie romaine (Paris, 1817-26).1
In this instance the cameo portrait of St Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) is flanked by densely packed cornucopia filled with fruit and a goat suckling three infants, all symbolic of earthly charity. These symbols of bounteous charity were most probably chosen because they closely relate to Saint Vincent de Paul, who was a Roman Catholic priest who dedicated his life to serving the poor. Known as the ‘Great Apostle of Charity’ he was canonised in 1737. Vincent de Paul established numerous religious congregations including the Daughters of Charity and Congregation of the Mission. He served as Spiritual Director of the Convent of St Mary of Angels for 28 years and in 1833 the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul was established to serve the poor, and is still in operation today. 2 It is likely that the companion vase, which is recorded in the Sèvres archives as decorated with a portrait of ‘Howard’ is in fact a reference to Saint Philip Howard (1557-1595), Duke of Arundel. As an ambitious young man Howard became a court favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, but following his attendance at a debate between a celebrated Jesuit and a group of Protestant theologians in 1581, he experienced a spiritual conversion to Catholicism which led to his imprisonment in the Tower of London. He lived in constant fear of execution but refused to convert to Protestantism and on his death he was proclaimed a Catholic martyr. This subject seems a fitting companion to that of the devout Saint Vincent. Although the intended recipient of the vases, baron de Prévost remains somewhat mysterious, there are records of numerous Catholic branches of the de Prévost family in France.
The present vase is similar in quality to a pair of Sèvres vases 'Medici' decorated with cameo portraits of French explorers by Joseph Ferdinand Reginer which were ordered by the French Minister of Agriculture and Commerce and delivered to the prefect of the lower department of the Seine on 7 August 1848; a single vase was sold at Christie's in New York on 21 April 2010, lot 183. See also the pair of vases 'Medici' decorated by Didier, fils and delivered to Louis-Philippe, King of France on 12 September 1844, which were sold by Christie's New York on 7 June 2012, lot 43.
Charles-Antoine Didier, fils is recorded as a painter at Sèvres manufactory from 1819 to 1848 and Jean-Louis Moyez worked as a gilder at the manufactory from 1818 to 1848.
1. Visconti, the curator of the antiquities at the Louvre had sent cameos, medals, drawings and engravings to Sèvres, and these were used as a basis for the simulated cameos of twelve great military Commanders of antiquity which were used to decorate the celebrated porcelain Table des Grands Capitaines, now in Buckingham Palace, London.
2. A series of religious busts were modelled by Brachard, père at Sèvres and these were accompanied with bas-relief plinths depicting scenes from their lives, amongst these subjects is a bust of Saint Vincent de Paul which was modelled in 1818.
The painting of trompe l'oeil cameos in the manner of antique hardstone cameos had been attempted at Sèvres in the 18th Century, but was not perfected until Alexandre Brongniart's Directorship of the manufactory. His training as a mineralogist could well have influenced the refinement of this technique of producing cameos in imitation of sardonyx, agate, carnelian and other hard stones. The use of cameo decoration also had a particular appeal for Napoleon and he ordered vases and services painted with them. These include two services painted by the artist Jean-Marie Degault with figures from antiquity, each bearing the same name, service 'Iconographique'. The first was delivered in 1811 to Napoleon's uncle, Cardinal Fesch, the second was delivered to 'the court of Rome' in September 1819.
Following the Restoration of the Monarchy, cameo designs continued to be adapted at the Sèvres manufactory for propaganda purposes, lending an antique 'authenticity' to depictions of great figures from classical antiquity and French history. In order to achieve the greatest authenticity possible, the sources of the designs were chosen with great care. Classical subjects were frequently copied from Ennio-Quirino Visconti's Iconographie grecque (Paris, 1808) or Iconographie romaine (Paris, 1817-26).1
In this instance the cameo portrait of St Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) is flanked by densely packed cornucopia filled with fruit and a goat suckling three infants, all symbolic of earthly charity. These symbols of bounteous charity were most probably chosen because they closely relate to Saint Vincent de Paul, who was a Roman Catholic priest who dedicated his life to serving the poor. Known as the ‘Great Apostle of Charity’ he was canonised in 1737. Vincent de Paul established numerous religious congregations including the Daughters of Charity and Congregation of the Mission. He served as Spiritual Director of the Convent of St Mary of Angels for 28 years and in 1833 the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul was established to serve the poor, and is still in operation today. 2 It is likely that the companion vase, which is recorded in the Sèvres archives as decorated with a portrait of ‘Howard’ is in fact a reference to Saint Philip Howard (1557-1595), Duke of Arundel. As an ambitious young man Howard became a court favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, but following his attendance at a debate between a celebrated Jesuit and a group of Protestant theologians in 1581, he experienced a spiritual conversion to Catholicism which led to his imprisonment in the Tower of London. He lived in constant fear of execution but refused to convert to Protestantism and on his death he was proclaimed a Catholic martyr. This subject seems a fitting companion to that of the devout Saint Vincent. Although the intended recipient of the vases, baron de Prévost remains somewhat mysterious, there are records of numerous Catholic branches of the de Prévost family in France.
The present vase is similar in quality to a pair of Sèvres vases 'Medici' decorated with cameo portraits of French explorers by Joseph Ferdinand Reginer which were ordered by the French Minister of Agriculture and Commerce and delivered to the prefect of the lower department of the Seine on 7 August 1848; a single vase was sold at Christie's in New York on 21 April 2010, lot 183. See also the pair of vases 'Medici' decorated by Didier, fils and delivered to Louis-Philippe, King of France on 12 September 1844, which were sold by Christie's New York on 7 June 2012, lot 43.
Charles-Antoine Didier, fils is recorded as a painter at Sèvres manufactory from 1819 to 1848 and Jean-Louis Moyez worked as a gilder at the manufactory from 1818 to 1848.
1. Visconti, the curator of the antiquities at the Louvre had sent cameos, medals, drawings and engravings to Sèvres, and these were used as a basis for the simulated cameos of twelve great military Commanders of antiquity which were used to decorate the celebrated porcelain Table des Grands Capitaines, now in Buckingham Palace, London.
2. A series of religious busts were modelled by Brachard, père at Sèvres and these were accompanied with bas-relief plinths depicting scenes from their lives, amongst these subjects is a bust of Saint Vincent de Paul which was modelled in 1818.