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Lot Essay
With their prominent swirling ormolu handles and distinct flower-encrusted bodies centered by charming painted scenes, these wonderful, quintessentially Rococo vases belong to a distinct group of Louis XV ormolu-mounted Meissen porcelain wares. Such rich and exquisite Maiblümen vases decorated with Watteauesque subjects were produced only in limited numbers and are rarely found mounted. Related examples of this group include:
- an identical pair that were sold together with the present lot, forming a set of four, from the collection of Madame C. Lelong, Galerie George Petit, Paris, 27-30 April and 1 May 1903, lot 202, now in the Huntington Collection, Pasadena (see R. Wark, French Decorative Art in the Huntington Collection, San Marino, 1961, p. 105, fig. 99)
- three vases almost certainly formerly in the collection of Nicolas Beaujon, banquier de la Cour, one of which was most recently sold from the Riahi Collection, Christie’s, New York, November 2, 2000, lot 16
- a pair of ewers in the Wallace Collection, London (see P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture, III, London, 1996, no. 278, pp. 1353-1361)
- a garniture of three vases in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (inv. nos. 832, 832A, 832B-1882) (see F. Litchfield, Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1900, p. 14 and O. Brackett, Catalogue of the Jones Collection, Part 2, London, 1924, pl. 38, no. 181
- a pair of vases in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio (acc. no. 44.239 and 230)
- and a pair of pot-pourri vases, struck with the C couronné poinçon (see F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, vol. II, New York, 1966, nos. 267 A-B, pp. 474-475)
The Beaujon garniture comprised of the vase sold in 2000 and two further vases ronds en pot-pourri that was acquired by the marchand Boileau for 242 livres. This comparatively low price is explained by the fact that in 1787 the garniture's rocaille mounts were considered démodé. In 1771, another garniture of this type is described succinctly in the possession of the duc de Bouillon: Une urne et deux buires de porcelaine de Saxe à cartouches, à miniatures, fond bleu moucheté de blanc et montées en bronze doré. As this garniture was undoubtedly the creation of a marchand-mercier, it is intriguing to note an entry in the Livre-Journal of Lazare Duvaux, dated 1 September 1750. This records Un pot pourri de Saxe peint de sujets de Watteau, garni en bronze doré d'or moulu, which he sold to the marquise de Pompadour for 120 livres (see F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, Vol. II, New York, 1966, no. 267 A-B, pp. 474-75).
MADAME LELONG
Madame Camille Lelong, née Laurentine-Françoise Bernage (1840-1902) was a distinguished Parisian collector and dealer in art and antiques. Mme. Lelong owned the Hôtel Rouillé de Meslay on the Quai de Béthune, a quaint street along the southern edge of the Île Saint-Louis (see G. Riat and A. Teixeira de Mattos, ‘Paris Sales’, The Burlington Gazette, London, August 1903, vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 153-155). Armed with a keen eye, charm and self-assuredness, Mme. Lelong acquired a vast amount of magnificent works, including a great number of eighteenth-century furniture. Her death in 1902 was followed by a number of sales of her collection in the spring and summer of 1903 by Galerie Georges Petit that were written about extensively both in France and abroad, and were very popular—part of the burgeoning trend of fashionable society auctions, which performed extremely well and drove up prices. Mme. Lelong’s sale was so extensive and of such high caliber, that in 1903 French art historian Émile Dacier predicted that: “Undoubtedly, most of [the objects] will take their place in a few palaces on Fifth Avenue, but we would be hard pressed to regret it beyond measure; since they will tell grandsons of billionaire trustmen how we too have been rich, rich in grace, distinction, elegance, refinement, rich in taste, rich in spirit” (see E. Dacier, 'L’antiquaire de l’île Saint-Louis', Revue de l’art ancien et moderne, April 1903, p. 254).
- an identical pair that were sold together with the present lot, forming a set of four, from the collection of Madame C. Lelong, Galerie George Petit, Paris, 27-30 April and 1 May 1903, lot 202, now in the Huntington Collection, Pasadena (see R. Wark, French Decorative Art in the Huntington Collection, San Marino, 1961, p. 105, fig. 99)
- three vases almost certainly formerly in the collection of Nicolas Beaujon, banquier de la Cour, one of which was most recently sold from the Riahi Collection, Christie’s, New York, November 2, 2000, lot 16
- a pair of ewers in the Wallace Collection, London (see P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture, III, London, 1996, no. 278, pp. 1353-1361)
- a garniture of three vases in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (inv. nos. 832, 832A, 832B-1882) (see F. Litchfield, Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1900, p. 14 and O. Brackett, Catalogue of the Jones Collection, Part 2, London, 1924, pl. 38, no. 181
- a pair of vases in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio (acc. no. 44.239 and 230)
- and a pair of pot-pourri vases, struck with the C couronné poinçon (see F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, vol. II, New York, 1966, nos. 267 A-B, pp. 474-475)
The Beaujon garniture comprised of the vase sold in 2000 and two further vases ronds en pot-pourri that was acquired by the marchand Boileau for 242 livres. This comparatively low price is explained by the fact that in 1787 the garniture's rocaille mounts were considered démodé. In 1771, another garniture of this type is described succinctly in the possession of the duc de Bouillon: Une urne et deux buires de porcelaine de Saxe à cartouches, à miniatures, fond bleu moucheté de blanc et montées en bronze doré. As this garniture was undoubtedly the creation of a marchand-mercier, it is intriguing to note an entry in the Livre-Journal of Lazare Duvaux, dated 1 September 1750. This records Un pot pourri de Saxe peint de sujets de Watteau, garni en bronze doré d'or moulu, which he sold to the marquise de Pompadour for 120 livres (see F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, Vol. II, New York, 1966, no. 267 A-B, pp. 474-75).
MADAME LELONG
Madame Camille Lelong, née Laurentine-Françoise Bernage (1840-1902) was a distinguished Parisian collector and dealer in art and antiques. Mme. Lelong owned the Hôtel Rouillé de Meslay on the Quai de Béthune, a quaint street along the southern edge of the Île Saint-Louis (see G. Riat and A. Teixeira de Mattos, ‘Paris Sales’, The Burlington Gazette, London, August 1903, vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 153-155). Armed with a keen eye, charm and self-assuredness, Mme. Lelong acquired a vast amount of magnificent works, including a great number of eighteenth-century furniture. Her death in 1902 was followed by a number of sales of her collection in the spring and summer of 1903 by Galerie Georges Petit that were written about extensively both in France and abroad, and were very popular—part of the burgeoning trend of fashionable society auctions, which performed extremely well and drove up prices. Mme. Lelong’s sale was so extensive and of such high caliber, that in 1903 French art historian Émile Dacier predicted that: “Undoubtedly, most of [the objects] will take their place in a few palaces on Fifth Avenue, but we would be hard pressed to regret it beyond measure; since they will tell grandsons of billionaire trustmen how we too have been rich, rich in grace, distinction, elegance, refinement, rich in taste, rich in spirit” (see E. Dacier, 'L’antiquaire de l’île Saint-Louis', Revue de l’art ancien et moderne, April 1903, p. 254).