CIRCA 1775

The bold and beautifully-chased mounts of the present vases can be attributed to the maître fondeur Jean-Claude-Thomas Duplessis (d. 1783). Son of Jean-Claude Chambellan Duplessis (d. 1774), bronzier and orfèvre du Roi, Jean-Claude-Thomas is first mentioned in 1752 when he was assisting his father in making models for the porcelain manufactory at Vincennes. In 1765, he is registered as maître fondeur en terre et sable. His father seems to have been active until circa 1763 after which date he does not seem to have had any real workshop. Bronzes made during the mid-1760s may therefore be considered as a collaboration of father and son including, for instance, those for the celebrated Bureau du Roi executed by Jean-Francois Oeben (d. 1763) and Jean-Henri Riesener (d. 1806) between 1760 and 1769 (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France, London, 1974, pp. 174-175). This monumental and richly-mounted bureau is embellished with a mixture of ‘antique’ bronzes such as garlands, vases and ribbon-twist in combination with earlier motifs such as the scrolling candle-branches in sweeping and sinuous shapes characteristic of Duplessis’ oeuvre. In fact, scrolls of similar outline and vigour feature on the present vases as handles, which are combined with more classical elements such as the waisted fluted bases and berried leaf finials to the lids. A further, almost identical pair of vases is known to exist in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Acc. Num. 56.140.1a,2a).
Duplessis père and fils’ principle clients were some of the most illustrious amateurs of the 18th Century and included, besides Louis XV, Lazare Duvaux, Augustin Blondel de Gagny and Laurent Grimod de la Reynière. Vases were a significant part of the oeuvre of Duplessis fils and he published two series of vases in 1775-80 (P. Verlet, Les bronzes dorés français du XVIII siècle, Paris, 1999, p. 415) and the Almanach des Artistes of 1777 lists that he was a ‘bon dessinateur’ and ‘travaille d’apres ses dessins’.