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Lot Essay
During the 1750's, ormolu-mounted Chinese porcelain was one of the most lavish displays of Parisian affluence and cultural affinity. The marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux (b. circa 1703 - d. 1758) specialized in ormolu-mounted Chinese celadon-glazed porcelain, a fact now known thanks in large part to the publication of his day book by Louis Courajod (L. Courajad, Livre Journal de Lazare Duvaux, marchand-bijoutier ordinaire du Roi: 1748-1758, Paris, 1874). One of the most relevant entries from Duvaux' daybook records a pair of vases sold to Monsieur le Comte du Luc on 3 August 1751, Deux buires de porcelaine céladon, garnies en bronze doré d'or moulu, 720 l. (Ibid, no. 881). Shortly afterwards, on 6 December 1751, he sold another pair of vases to Madame la Marquise de Pompadour, Deux autres vases en hauteur de porcelain céladon ancienne, montés en forme de buire, en bronze ciselé doré d'or moulu, 1,680 l. (Ibid, no.l 967). From these entries, not only is the fashion for such celadon-ware apparent, but it is also evident that the marchand-mercier dealt in pieces of both extremely grand design and others of slightly less costly design.
In comparing the current ewers with related pairs of ormolu-mounted celadon ewers with bullrush handles at Waddesdon Manor (illustrated in G. de Bellaigue, The James A. De Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor: Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, vol. II, London, 1974, cat. no. 197) and in the Wrightsman Collection (illus. F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection: Furniture, Gilt Bronze and Mounted Porcelain, vol. II, New York, 1966, cat. no. 244A& B), it is tempting to draw tentative conclusions on a common design and retail source.
In elaborating on these related pairs of ewers, both Watson and de Bellaigue reference Levallet in suggesting that such boldly sculptural mounts could have been made by Jean-Claude Duplessis père (d. 1774) (G. Levallet, La Renaissance de l'Art Français, Paris, 1922, pp. 60-67). From another note in Duvaux' daybook, we know that the fondeur-ciseleur Duplessis supplied ormolu mounts for celadon vases to Duvaux, including the mounts for what must have been an exceptionally extravagant pair of vases sold on 13 September 1750 to the Marquis de Voyer d'Argenson, Deux gros vases de porcelaine Céladon, monté par Duplessis en bronze doré d'ormolu 3000 l. (Courajad, op. cit., no.601).
In comparing the current ewers with related pairs of ormolu-mounted celadon ewers with bullrush handles at Waddesdon Manor (illustrated in G. de Bellaigue, The James A. De Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor: Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, vol. II, London, 1974, cat. no. 197) and in the Wrightsman Collection (illus. F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection: Furniture, Gilt Bronze and Mounted Porcelain, vol. II, New York, 1966, cat. no. 244A& B), it is tempting to draw tentative conclusions on a common design and retail source.
In elaborating on these related pairs of ewers, both Watson and de Bellaigue reference Levallet in suggesting that such boldly sculptural mounts could have been made by Jean-Claude Duplessis père (d. 1774) (G. Levallet, La Renaissance de l'Art Français, Paris, 1922, pp. 60-67). From another note in Duvaux' daybook, we know that the fondeur-ciseleur Duplessis supplied ormolu mounts for celadon vases to Duvaux, including the mounts for what must have been an exceptionally extravagant pair of vases sold on 13 September 1750 to the Marquis de Voyer d'Argenson, Deux gros vases de porcelaine Céladon, monté par Duplessis en bronze doré d'ormolu 3000 l. (Courajad, op. cit., no.601).