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Lot Essay
The present vase is from a known group of similar examples variously described in factory inventories as a vase 'à médaillons', 'greques à guirlandes', or, in the 19th century 'grec à festons'. (M.N.S. Archives, carton 17). The description first appears in a factory inventory of 1 January 1764, described as a new model of the previous year. Also new in 1763 was the ground color known as bleu du roi or bleu nouveau, the deep purplish blue of the present example and a color that has become synonymous with the Sèvres factory.
Regardless of the term used to describe the shape of the vase or the color blue of its ground, what cannot be disputed is the importance of the model in confirming that neo-classic architectural forms and the influence of the Antique were being adapted to French decorative arts as early as 1763/1764.
Indeed, the design of the present model can be seen as a vehicle for its antique cameo portraits. This type of decoration is associated with Jean-Baptiste Genest. Active at Sèvres 1752-1788, he is listed as having received payment in 1768-1769 for têtes en médaillons on vases 'Carrache'. However, there is no reason to believe that he was not also responsible for the cameo portraits on earlier neo-classic vases such as the present example. The gilding on the present vase may be the work of the gilder Jean-Baptiste Boulanger, whose mark of a script B appears on a similar example now in the musée du Louvre.
Several examples of the present model are known in public collections, including:
Hermitage Museum, Leningrad (a green-ground example dated 1764)
Louvre Museum, Paris (a bleu nouveau example with script B for Boulanger given to the museum by Baron Elie de Rothschild in 1982 and possibly the same as the similarly marked example sold by Gustave de Rothschild, Christie's, London, 30 May 1963, lot 57)
Saumur Museum, Saumur (a bleu cèleste example with provenance similar to that of the present vase)
In addition, 1ere grandeur example from the collection of Sir Charles Clore was sold Christie's, Monaco, 6 December 1985, lot 5. An example in the collection of Lyne Stevens was sold Christie's, London, 9-17 May 1895, lot 480. Also know from a photograph is the example from the Secréton Collection, sold Galerie Sedelmeyer, Paris 4 July 1889, lot 275 and that owned by Derek Fitzgerald, sold Sotheby's, London, 4 May 1965, lot 71.
A garniture of five vases comprised of a central vase 'a médaillons et guirlandes grecs flanked by two pair in two sizes of a vase à rosettes is known, published by Erikson and Bellaigue as belonging to The Antique Porcelain Company. This garniture is likely that listed as being delivered to M. Bertin in December 1764 (M.N.S. Archives, Vy4, folio 32).
Cf. Marcelle Brunet and Tamara Préaud, Sèvres, des origines à nos jours, Paris, 1978, p. 168, pl. 131; Serge Grandjean, "Un nouveau vase néo-classique de Sèvres au Louvre", revue du Louvre, 3, 1984, pp. 193-195; Louvre Museum, Paris, Exhibition Catalogue, musée du Louvre, Nouvelles Acquisitions du département des Objets d'art, 1980-1984, no. 80, pp. 139-142; Grand Palais, Paris, Exhibition Catalogue, Anciens et Nouveaux.., 1985-1986, no. 89, p. 162
Regardless of the term used to describe the shape of the vase or the color blue of its ground, what cannot be disputed is the importance of the model in confirming that neo-classic architectural forms and the influence of the Antique were being adapted to French decorative arts as early as 1763/1764.
Indeed, the design of the present model can be seen as a vehicle for its antique cameo portraits. This type of decoration is associated with Jean-Baptiste Genest. Active at Sèvres 1752-1788, he is listed as having received payment in 1768-1769 for têtes en médaillons on vases 'Carrache'. However, there is no reason to believe that he was not also responsible for the cameo portraits on earlier neo-classic vases such as the present example. The gilding on the present vase may be the work of the gilder Jean-Baptiste Boulanger, whose mark of a script B appears on a similar example now in the musée du Louvre.
Several examples of the present model are known in public collections, including:
Hermitage Museum, Leningrad (a green-ground example dated 1764)
Louvre Museum, Paris (a bleu nouveau example with script B for Boulanger given to the museum by Baron Elie de Rothschild in 1982 and possibly the same as the similarly marked example sold by Gustave de Rothschild, Christie's, London, 30 May 1963, lot 57)
Saumur Museum, Saumur (a bleu cèleste example with provenance similar to that of the present vase)
In addition, 1ere grandeur example from the collection of Sir Charles Clore was sold Christie's, Monaco, 6 December 1985, lot 5. An example in the collection of Lyne Stevens was sold Christie's, London, 9-17 May 1895, lot 480. Also know from a photograph is the example from the Secréton Collection, sold Galerie Sedelmeyer, Paris 4 July 1889, lot 275 and that owned by Derek Fitzgerald, sold Sotheby's, London, 4 May 1965, lot 71.
A garniture of five vases comprised of a central vase 'a médaillons et guirlandes grecs flanked by two pair in two sizes of a vase à rosettes is known, published by Erikson and Bellaigue as belonging to The Antique Porcelain Company. This garniture is likely that listed as being delivered to M. Bertin in December 1764 (M.N.S. Archives, Vy4, folio 32).
Cf. Marcelle Brunet and Tamara Préaud, Sèvres, des origines à nos jours, Paris, 1978, p. 168, pl. 131; Serge Grandjean, "Un nouveau vase néo-classique de Sèvres au Louvre", revue du Louvre, 3, 1984, pp. 193-195; Louvre Museum, Paris, Exhibition Catalogue, musée du Louvre, Nouvelles Acquisitions du département des Objets d'art, 1980-1984, no. 80, pp. 139-142; Grand Palais, Paris, Exhibition Catalogue, Anciens et Nouveaux.., 1985-1986, no. 89, p. 162