Lot Essay
The livre-journal of the marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux records, on the 22nd April 1757, the sale of a five-piece garniture to the duc d'Orléans. Of this, the central vase was described as:-
'Un grand vase en urne à dragons de relief, en porcelaine truittée, monté en bronze doré d'or moulu'...., whilst the flanking elements were described as 'deux autres grands vases de même porcelaine, montés en pots pourris; & deux bouteilles à dragons, même porcelaine, aussi montées en bronze doré d'or moulu, 2,960 l.
Two years later, the same garniture is recorded in the salon of the Duchesse d'Orléans at the Palais Royal.
Interestingly, in the sale of l'abbé de Chevigny on the 1st December 1779, lot 1087 was described as:-
'trois vases de porcelaine craquelée forme de lisbet, à chimères de relief prises dans la porcelaine, ornés tous trois de gorges à baguettes, anses containnées à forts rinceaux, sur pieds à quatre supports, et coquilles de bronze doré 480 livres silvestre' .
The companion vase, although the lizards are enclosed within the scrolling handle-mounts, is in the James A. de Rothschild collection at Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire. Reputedly acquired from the collection of the Earls of Mexborough, it is discussed in G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg, 1974, II, no.201, pp.764-5.
A further pair of vases of identical 'truite fin' but with dragons of different proportions is in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris (cat. 1973, p.36, no. 157), whilst a third vase identical to those in the Nissim Camondo appeared on the French art market in 1994 and was illustrated in 'Une Folie du XVIIIème Siècle Les Vases Montés', Connaissance des Arts, November, 1953, p.39.
'Un grand vase en urne à dragons de relief, en porcelaine truittée, monté en bronze doré d'or moulu'...., whilst the flanking elements were described as 'deux autres grands vases de même porcelaine, montés en pots pourris; & deux bouteilles à dragons, même porcelaine, aussi montées en bronze doré d'or moulu, 2,960 l.
Two years later, the same garniture is recorded in the salon of the Duchesse d'Orléans at the Palais Royal.
Interestingly, in the sale of l'abbé de Chevigny on the 1st December 1779, lot 1087 was described as:-
'trois vases de porcelaine craquelée forme de lisbet, à chimères de relief prises dans la porcelaine, ornés tous trois de gorges à baguettes, anses containnées à forts rinceaux, sur pieds à quatre supports, et coquilles de bronze doré 480 livres silvestre' .
The companion vase, although the lizards are enclosed within the scrolling handle-mounts, is in the James A. de Rothschild collection at Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire. Reputedly acquired from the collection of the Earls of Mexborough, it is discussed in G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg, 1974, II, no.201, pp.764-5.
A further pair of vases of identical 'truite fin' but with dragons of different proportions is in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris (cat. 1973, p.36, no. 157), whilst a third vase identical to those in the Nissim Camondo appeared on the French art market in 1994 and was illustrated in 'Une Folie du XVIIIème Siècle Les Vases Montés', Connaissance des Arts, November, 1953, p.39.