BY CARON & LEFEBVRE, CIRCA 1806

Details

A PAIR OF EMPIRE PARIS PORCELAIN ATHENIENNES
BY CARON & LEFEBVRE, CIRCA 1806
Formed of a gold-ground circular cup decorated with hieroglyphs in burnished gold, the base of the cup enriched with imitation bronze palmettes and husks, supported on three gold-ground pilasters adorned with lion masks and intertwined snakes terminating in a lion's paw, flanking three imitation bronze Egyptian terms in bas-relief, resting on a sheath with a gold ground and standing on a blue marbled ground, the gold ground circular base with burnished gold hieroglyphs, originally with an additional dish to the top
33 in. (89 cm.) high

Provenance

Probably at Pavlovsk Palace, St. Petersburg (where photographed with an additional dish).

Literature

Ouspenski, 'les Trésors d’Art dans le grand Palais de Pavlovsk', Starvé Gody, 1912.

Exhibited

L'exposition des Produits de L'industrie Français, Paris, 1806.

Special notice

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends. This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Conditions of sale

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Charlotte Young Associate Director, Specialist

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Lot Essay

The porcelain factory, located on Rue Amelot in Paris, initially sponsored by the duc d’Orleans, was bought in May 1802 by Toussaint Caron, who was joined in 1806 by Jacques Lefèbvre. This manufactory took part in the Exposition des Produits de l’Industrie in 1806, where it received a silver medal and presented two Egyptian tripods or atheniennes. On this occasion, Caron & Lefèbvre created an advertising card illustrating the most remarkable pieces of their production, which depicted at its centre an identical athenienne to the pair presented here. It is stated in the catalogue of the Exposition des Produits de l’Industrie that the trade of the Caron and Lefèbvre was mostly abroad, and particularly with Russia. These atheniennes may have once been in the Imperial collection at Pavlovsk Palace, as an identical athenienne was photographed there in 1905, illustrated by Ouspenski, 'les Trésors d’Art dans le grand palais de Pavlovsk', Starvé Gody, 1912.

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