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Lot Essay
On the 6th of February 1778, two treaties were signed in 'secret' by Louis XVI and Benjamin Franklin. These 'secret' negotiations, known as the Treaty of Amity and Commerce or the Treaty of Alliance, were followed shortly thereafter by a formal court reception. The present group likely commemorates the formal announcement and the reception of Franklin at the French Court, an act that recognized American independence and promised military aid to one another should England interfere with their trade. Two-hundred years later, an image of this biscuit porcelain sculpture was reproduced on a United States postage stamp, issued to commemorate the Bicentennial of the signing of the treaty.
The design of the group is attributed to Charles Gabriel Sauvage (1741-1827). Sauvage (called Lemire) arrived at the Niderviller works in the early 1780s and is shortly thereafter noted as the principal modeler and artistic director. See Aileen Dawson, French Porcelain, A Catalogue of the British Museum Collection (London, 1994), pp. 283-285 for a discussion on Lemire and the factory's history.
Further examples are documented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (83.3.260, gift of William H. Huntington, 1883); the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum (1957.790); the U.S. State Department Diplomatic Reception Rooms, Washington D.C.; the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey; and at the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.
For additional information, see the Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vol. XX, November 1925, pp. 271-273 and Clement E. Conger, Treasures of State, Fine and Decorative Art in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State (New York, 1991), pp. 252-253 and p. 262.
The design of the group is attributed to Charles Gabriel Sauvage (1741-1827). Sauvage (called Lemire) arrived at the Niderviller works in the early 1780s and is shortly thereafter noted as the principal modeler and artistic director. See Aileen Dawson, French Porcelain, A Catalogue of the British Museum Collection (London, 1994), pp. 283-285 for a discussion on Lemire and the factory's history.
Further examples are documented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (83.3.260, gift of William H. Huntington, 1883); the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum (1957.790); the U.S. State Department Diplomatic Reception Rooms, Washington D.C.; the Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey; and at the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.
For additional information, see the Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vol. XX, November 1925, pp. 271-273 and Clement E. Conger, Treasures of State, Fine and Decorative Art in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State (New York, 1991), pp. 252-253 and p. 262.
