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Lot Essay
In spite of his skill as a painter, little is known about Coste as many of the factory records relating to him were destroyed by fire at the end of the 19th Century. Coste painted another plaque with exactly the same still-life subject as the present lot. This other plaque, signed coste d'aprez Vandael and Mre de Dihl , was formerly in the Castille Collection, sale Versailles, 17th March 1991, lot 140 (unframed), and is illustrated by Anne Lajoix, 'Tableaux Précieux en Porcelaine', L'estampille-Objet d'Art, No. 247, May 1991, p. 121.
A Vienna plaque painted by Leopold Parmann in 1813 shows the same van Dael subject with subtle variations; see sale Sotheby's London, 2nd December 2004, lot 34. The Flemish painter van Dael1 exhibited in Paris and the Low Countries, and his painting must presumably have been in Paris for Coste to have copied it. It is possible that Parmann made subtle variations to the subject in order to distinguish his plaque from Coste's, rather than van Dael's original. As Coste painted two identical plaques, it suggests that one of them was probably purchased by a Viennese client.
Dihl's background as a chemist was an important factor in his factory's fortunes. He conducted extensive research into colours, and his 1798 report to the Institut was met with great enthusiasm. At the time, Dihl's factory was unrivalled in making large porcelain plaques of such exquisite quality. Plaques showed off Dihl's new techniques admirably, and a number of them were exhibited at the Salon in 1798 and 1806 to great acclaim. For an illustration of Le Guay's famous 1797 portrait plaque of Dihl (with a palette and porcelain decorated with his new techniques), see Régine de Plinval de Guillebon, Paris Porcelain (1972), p. 137. For an illustration of another still-life plaque by J. Baraband in 1797, see Anne Lajoix, loc. cit., p. 120.
1. Jan Frans van Dael (1764-1840) received commissions from numerous influential patrons including Empress Josephine, Marie Louise Bonaparte, Louis XVIII and Charles X.
A Vienna plaque painted by Leopold Parmann in 1813 shows the same van Dael subject with subtle variations; see sale Sotheby's London, 2nd December 2004, lot 34. The Flemish painter van Dael
Dihl's background as a chemist was an important factor in his factory's fortunes. He conducted extensive research into colours, and his 1798 report to the Institut was met with great enthusiasm. At the time, Dihl's factory was unrivalled in making large porcelain plaques of such exquisite quality. Plaques showed off Dihl's new techniques admirably, and a number of them were exhibited at the Salon in 1798 and 1806 to great acclaim. For an illustration of Le Guay's famous 1797 portrait plaque of Dihl (with a palette and porcelain decorated with his new techniques), see Régine de Plinval de Guillebon, Paris Porcelain (1972), p. 137. For an illustration of another still-life plaque by J. Baraband in 1797, see Anne Lajoix, loc. cit., p. 120.
1. Jan Frans van Dael (1764-1840) received commissions from numerous influential patrons including Empress Josephine, Marie Louise Bonaparte, Louis XVIII and Charles X.