Lot Essay
Jean III Pénicaud was a member of the celebrated dynasty of enamellers working in Limoges in the 16th and early 17th centuries. His work is characterised by impressionistic brushstrokes which often create a sense of energy not found in the enamels of his predecessors Nardon, Jean I and Jean II Pénicaud.
The frieze-like procession of marine figures around the body of the present ewer comes from at least two known print sources. The five figure grouping with Venus at its centre is known to be derived from print number 16 in a series of 32 engravings of the story of Cupid and Psyche by the Master of the Die, and also appears, with variations, on the lid of a casket attributed to Jean III which is in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (Verdier, op. cit., no. 59). The lone figure of Venus on a sea-shell is from a print by Agostino Veneziano after Raphael's fresco in the stufetta of Cardinal Bibbiena in the Vatican.
It is known that the ewer was bought from the collection at Strawberry Hill by Hollingworth Magniac, because the latter kept meticulous notes on where he purchased his pieces, and both the catalogue of his collection and the sale catalogue of 1892 mention the Strawberry Hill provenance. It has not proven possible thus far, however, to locate the ewer in Walpole's inventories with certainty, although the 'ewer enamelled with bacchanals on copper' in the China Room (Kirkgate, loc. cit) may be identical with the present lot.
The frieze-like procession of marine figures around the body of the present ewer comes from at least two known print sources. The five figure grouping with Venus at its centre is known to be derived from print number 16 in a series of 32 engravings of the story of Cupid and Psyche by the Master of the Die, and also appears, with variations, on the lid of a casket attributed to Jean III which is in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore (Verdier, op. cit., no. 59). The lone figure of Venus on a sea-shell is from a print by Agostino Veneziano after Raphael's fresco in the stufetta of Cardinal Bibbiena in the Vatican.
It is known that the ewer was bought from the collection at Strawberry Hill by Hollingworth Magniac, because the latter kept meticulous notes on where he purchased his pieces, and both the catalogue of his collection and the sale catalogue of 1892 mention the Strawberry Hill provenance. It has not proven possible thus far, however, to locate the ewer in Walpole's inventories with certainty, although the 'ewer enamelled with bacchanals on copper' in the China Room (Kirkgate, loc. cit) may be identical with the present lot.