Lot Essay
Louis-Jean Thévenet, père, aîné, painter at Vincennes and Sèvres 1741 or 1745-1777. He was employed as a fan painter before joining the factory where he worked chiefly as a flower painter although he is also recorded as having painted birds. In 1755 it was noted 'son genre de talens est la peinture en fleurs, son employ est certain et de bonne reussite, quoyque sec et peu léger, laissant peu de progres à esperer', see Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain (1988), Vol. III, p. 1071.
The present gobelet à lait is of the second size. This form was probably used for milk drinks infused with a variety of liquids such as stock, wine or infusions of violets, see Rosalind Savill, ibid. (1988), Vol. II, p. 669. The gobelet stands on an elaborate corbeille carreé rather than the more usual soucoupe, which perhaps suggests that the piece may have been a special acquisition, also indicated by the green ground-colour, which had only been introduced the previous year. The corbeille carreé was an extremely expensive item to produce due to the intricate moulding, pierced border and density of the piece which often caused problems in the firing. The shape was first developed in 1755; see Porcelain de Vincennes, Les Origines de Sèvres, Exhibition Catalogue (Grand Palais, 1977) p.45, where mention is made of two bleu celeste examples which formed part of the Louis XV Service. Baskets from that Service with similar borders although of different forms, were sold in these Rooms on 12 June 1995, lots 388-392.
The Sèvres factory sales register records the supply Aux differens Seigneurs de la Cour 1 Gobelet à lait le Corbeille fond vert in December 1760, and in January 1761 1 Gobelet à lait et Corbeille fond verre was supplied. The Livre-Journal de Lazare Duvaux, marchand mercier and Jeweller in Ordinary to the King, records several gobelets à lait and a few corbeilles but none would appear to be affiliated. Although it cannot be established exactly to whom the present lot was supplied, an entry in the Sèvres factory sales register for December 1758 would appear to be the most likely to correspond with the present lot; 1 Gobelet à lait 2eme Vert plein et Corbeille, 192 livres . This was given by the King, Louis XV to the Empress Marie-Thérèse. The absence of a Gobelet à lait matching this description at the Hofburg Palace Collection in Vienna persuasively suggests that the present lot was most probably supplied to the Empress.
The present gobelet à lait is of the second size. This form was probably used for milk drinks infused with a variety of liquids such as stock, wine or infusions of violets, see Rosalind Savill, ibid. (1988), Vol. II, p. 669. The gobelet stands on an elaborate corbeille carreé rather than the more usual soucoupe, which perhaps suggests that the piece may have been a special acquisition, also indicated by the green ground-colour, which had only been introduced the previous year. The corbeille carreé was an extremely expensive item to produce due to the intricate moulding, pierced border and density of the piece which often caused problems in the firing. The shape was first developed in 1755; see Porcelain de Vincennes, Les Origines de Sèvres, Exhibition Catalogue (Grand Palais, 1977) p.45, where mention is made of two bleu celeste examples which formed part of the Louis XV Service. Baskets from that Service with similar borders although of different forms, were sold in these Rooms on 12 June 1995, lots 388-392.
The Sèvres factory sales register records the supply Aux differens Seigneurs de la Cour 1 Gobelet à lait le Corbeille fond vert in December 1760, and in January 1761 1 Gobelet à lait et Corbeille fond verre was supplied. The Livre-Journal de Lazare Duvaux, marchand mercier and Jeweller in Ordinary to the King, records several gobelets à lait and a few corbeilles but none would appear to be affiliated. Although it cannot be established exactly to whom the present lot was supplied, an entry in the Sèvres factory sales register for December 1758 would appear to be the most likely to correspond with the present lot; 1 Gobelet à lait 2