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Lot Essay
This vase is distinguished by its highly unusual violet ground color - a hue which was extremely difficult for the Sèvres manufactory to produce in the 18th Century and which was largely experimental. A handwritten entry by the painter and chef de couleurs et chimie Jean-Jacques Bailly in his Manuscrit de Bailly, 17...-1785, under the heading Violet No.1 du septembre 1767 makes the specific reference,
on a fait les petits oeufs qui est tres beau
(Archives Manufacture Sèvres, Y75).
Aside from two known garnitures of three vases ordered by Louis XV in 1768 as gifts for Henry Leonard Jean-Baptiste Bertin and Machault d'Arnouville, listed in the sales inventories for December that year, and the two small cylindrical vases now in the Musée Ceramique at Sèvres, no other 18th Century pieces with this ground color are documented.
The Sèvres sales inventories clearly refer to the Bertin and Machault d'Arnouville garnitures of vases fonds violets as being specially commissioned by Louis XV - 'Livres pour Presenter. The garniture presented to Bertin, now in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth, Derbyshire, appears to have been slightly larger than that given to Machault.
Henry Leonard Jean-Baptiste Bertin (born ca.1719) was Lieutenant General of the police in 1757, and became Minister of Finance in 1759 until 1763. He was Secretary of State of the Council until the death of Louis XV in 1774. In 1767 he succeeded Jacques Dominiques Barberi de Courteille as the commissaire du Roi to be in charge of the Sèvres manufactory, where he was a significant force in encouraging the manufacture of hard paste porcelain. There he appointed his clerk, Melchior François Parent, to be Director of the factory, replacing Jacques Rene Boilleau who had held the post since 1745 at Vincennes.
Jean-Baptiste Machault d'Arnouville (ca.1701/2-1794) was the son of a conseiler d'etat and lieutenant general of the police. He himself held numerous political appointments such as president au Grand Conseil in 1783, controler general des finances from 1745 to 1754, grand tresorier-commandeur des ordres du Roi from 1747 to 1754, ministre d'Etat in 1749 and garde des sceaux de France in 1750 as well as Minister of the Marine. Machault's main role, however was as Minister of Finance and as accomplice to Madame de Pompadour in persuading Louis XV to take interest in the Sèvres Manufactory. Successful in this endeavor, the King granted Royal title to the factory in 1753 and purchased it in its entirety in 1756.
Machault's priviliged position was lost in 1757 when he fell from favor with Madame de Pompadour and he was ousted from the Court; however he never lost the protection and devotion of Louis XV, who demonstrated his loyalty with the presentation of such a precious gift as the violet garniture in 1768. The garniture was no doubt kept at his Château d'Arnouville in Seine-et-Oise along with his illustrious collection of furniture and paintings, many of which now exist in distinguished museum and private collections. The Marchault garniture, identical in design to this vase and which has mounts attributed to Jean-Claude Duplessis, was with Maurice Segoura, Paris and is now in a private collection.
The ormolu mounts on this vase-oeuf are stamped with letters for assembly, a practise not thought to have been introduced until the early 19th Century. Two hypotheses are conceivable, therefore;- either the present ormolu mounts - which are identical to those on the other two garnitures - are late 18th century and were regilded and re-chased in the early 19th century, or the porcelain remained unmounted in the 18th Century, and was mounted for the first time in the 1820's.
Another vase, identical except for the base, was sold from the collection of Frederick J. and Antoinette H. Van Slyke of Baltimore, Maryland. Described as being Louis XVI and last quarter 18th Century, it was sold at Sotheby's New York, 20 May 1989, lot 171.
on a fait les petits oeufs qui est tres beau
(Archives Manufacture Sèvres, Y75).
Aside from two known garnitures of three vases ordered by Louis XV in 1768 as gifts for Henry Leonard Jean-Baptiste Bertin and Machault d'Arnouville, listed in the sales inventories for December that year, and the two small cylindrical vases now in the Musée Ceramique at Sèvres, no other 18th Century pieces with this ground color are documented.
The Sèvres sales inventories clearly refer to the Bertin and Machault d'Arnouville garnitures of vases fonds violets as being specially commissioned by Louis XV - 'Livres pour Presenter. The garniture presented to Bertin, now in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth, Derbyshire, appears to have been slightly larger than that given to Machault.
Henry Leonard Jean-Baptiste Bertin (born ca.1719) was Lieutenant General of the police in 1757, and became Minister of Finance in 1759 until 1763. He was Secretary of State of the Council until the death of Louis XV in 1774. In 1767 he succeeded Jacques Dominiques Barberi de Courteille as the commissaire du Roi to be in charge of the Sèvres manufactory, where he was a significant force in encouraging the manufacture of hard paste porcelain. There he appointed his clerk, Melchior François Parent, to be Director of the factory, replacing Jacques Rene Boilleau who had held the post since 1745 at Vincennes.
Jean-Baptiste Machault d'Arnouville (ca.1701/2-1794) was the son of a conseiler d'etat and lieutenant general of the police. He himself held numerous political appointments such as president au Grand Conseil in 1783, controler general des finances from 1745 to 1754, grand tresorier-commandeur des ordres du Roi from 1747 to 1754, ministre d'Etat in 1749 and garde des sceaux de France in 1750 as well as Minister of the Marine. Machault's main role, however was as Minister of Finance and as accomplice to Madame de Pompadour in persuading Louis XV to take interest in the Sèvres Manufactory. Successful in this endeavor, the King granted Royal title to the factory in 1753 and purchased it in its entirety in 1756.
Machault's priviliged position was lost in 1757 when he fell from favor with Madame de Pompadour and he was ousted from the Court; however he never lost the protection and devotion of Louis XV, who demonstrated his loyalty with the presentation of such a precious gift as the violet garniture in 1768. The garniture was no doubt kept at his Château d'Arnouville in Seine-et-Oise along with his illustrious collection of furniture and paintings, many of which now exist in distinguished museum and private collections. The Marchault garniture, identical in design to this vase and which has mounts attributed to Jean-Claude Duplessis, was with Maurice Segoura, Paris and is now in a private collection.
The ormolu mounts on this vase-oeuf are stamped with letters for assembly, a practise not thought to have been introduced until the early 19th Century. Two hypotheses are conceivable, therefore;- either the present ormolu mounts - which are identical to those on the other two garnitures - are late 18th century and were regilded and re-chased in the early 19th century, or the porcelain remained unmounted in the 18th Century, and was mounted for the first time in the 1820's.
Another vase, identical except for the base, was sold from the collection of Frederick J. and Antoinette H. Van Slyke of Baltimore, Maryland. Described as being Louis XVI and last quarter 18th Century, it was sold at Sotheby's New York, 20 May 1989, lot 171.