ATTRIBUTED TO PIERRE GOUTHIERE, CIRCA 1765

With ormolu mounts of the highest quality enveloping a body and cover of rare levanto rosso marble, this vase is testament to the unrivalled skill of the ciseleur-doreur Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813) and the preliminary expressions of neoclassicism embodied by the gout grec that emanated from Paris and swept through the courts of Europe.

This beautiful vase is closely related to two pairs of vases currently preserved in the Royal Castle of Warsaw (inv. No. ZKW/2036, ZKW/2037/1-2) and the Neues Palais in Potsdam (inv. No. 3651-3643) respectively. Their acquisition by two of Europe’s most enlightened monarchs Stanislaus II Augustus, King of Poland (1732-1798) and Frederick the Great, King of Prussia (1712-1786) indicate the quality of design and production as well as the avant-garde aesthetic ideals represented by this group of vases, including the present lot.

The attribution to Pierre Gouthière, whose work was unsurpassed by almost any other 18^th century bronzier, is supported not only by the superlative quality and highly individual chasing of the mounts, but by written documentation regarding the pair of vases in the Royal Castle of Warsaw which has identical mounts to the present lot. The Warsaw vases were acquired in 1764 in Paris by Casimir Czempinski, the agent of Stanislaus II Augustus, from the atelier of the silversmith François-Thomas Germain (1726–1791), where Gouthière had trained. Czempinski had been sent to Paris to acquire objects in the goût grec style of which the vases, and of course the present lot are such stellar representatives. In addition to the finely chased laurel swags and beautifully proportioned scroll handles, the plinths are cast with Greek-key pattern panels, firmly recalling the architectural vocabulary of Ancient Greece. The vases were accepted by the Polish King and in an assertion of intellectual and creative ownership, Gouthière and the silversmith Jean Rameau wrote to Stanislaus II Augustus disavowing Germain’s claims to authorship and going so far as to cast aspersion on the silversmith’s capabilities.

‘qu’ayant eu l’honneur de travailler pour Votre Majesté, ils ont été assez heureux pour que leurs ouvrages en aient été goûtés, et ils osent l’assurer que Germain qui en paraissait l’auteur, était absolument incapable de les composer, ni de les mettre à leur perfection.’

By asserting authorship in such a way, the mounts of the present lot as well as those in Berlin, all cast from the same mould as the Warsaw pair, can be strongly attributed to Gouthière. Very characteristic and specific to the oeuvre of Gouthière is the technique and finish known as the dorure au mat, a matte gilding seen on the swags and foliate waisting that contrasts with the burnished ribbon-tie and scroll handles of the vase.

The origins of the design of the vases is less definitive and has been attributed to a number of sources, including Germain, Francois Boucher, and Joseph-Marie Vien. Suggestions that the design derives from François-Thomas Germain rely largely on the origin of the vases as a finished product in Germain’s atelier as well as the existence of similar vases executed for Germain that remained in Gouthière’s workshop in 1767. An 18^th century inventory of Frederick the Great’s collection at Potsdam refers to a series of ormolu-mounted hardstone garnitures ‘d’après le dessin & l’invention de Mr Francois Boucher’. The vases that are related to the present lot and currently preserved in the Neues Palais were part of this large commission of French ormolu-mounted hardstone sent to the Prussian court, and although unlike others vases from the commission they do not relate to known designs by Boucher, the inventory implies that they were considered to be after a design by the artist. The link to Joseph-Marie Vien is perhaps more tangible, as the frontispiece for a selection of engravings of gout grec objects entitled Suite de vases compose dans le gout de l’antique by Joseph-Marie Vien depicts a vase of similar form and with related swags and scrolling handles to our own, but notably without a cover and with an Apollo mask (illustrated here). Its publication date of 1760, some 4/5 years before the execution of the group of vases, suggests that Vien may have inspired the design for the present vase.

The body of the present lot is carved from precious levanto rosso, a more luxurious and expensive material than the stucco imitating hardstone found on the Warsaw and Potsdam vases. That Gouthière’s work should appear in Germain’s atelier is of no surprise given Gouthière trained in the Germain workshops. Gouthière joins Boulle, Cressent and Riesener in the Pantheon of 18th century decorative arts and was particularly prolific right up until the French Revolution. A key figure of his era, this vase figures relatively early in Gouthière’s repertoire and although many consider the apogee of his powers to be in the Louis XVI period, the extraordinary quality of the present lot demonstrates the technical prowess he had already achieved in the early 1760s. Gouthière’s renown was such that his name featured in sale catalogues, an extremely rare occurrence at the time.