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Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
P. Ennes, ‘The Visit of the Comte and Comtesse du Nord to the Sèvres Manufactory,’ Apollo, March 1989, pp. 150-222.
S. Massie, Pavlovsk: the life of a Russian Palace, Leipzig, 1990, p. 26.
Ed. E. Ducamp, Pavlovsk: The Collections, Paris, 1993, p. 147, illus. 6.
This monumental pair of ormolu-mounted vases are very rare and early examples of an antique model from the Sèvres manufactory. The model is identical to the only other known pair of ‘Vases lacrimales Beau bleu montés en bronze’ in the collection of the palace of Pavlovsk, near St. Petersburg. The West Dean vases and the Pavlovsk vases are remarkable for their great height (about 1.20 metres) and rare avant-garde shape. The only notable differences between the two examples are the addition of an ormolu rim and handles to the Pavlovsk vases (ed. E. Ducamp, Pavlovsk: The Collections, Paris, 1993, p. 147, illus. 6). The Pavlovsk vases were selected by Prince Baryatinsky, Catherine II’s ambassador in Paris, from the Sèvres manufactory, for the Empress’s son, the Grand Duke Paul of Russia and his wife the Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, who purchased them for 2400 livres (P. Ennes, ‘The Visit of the Comte and Comtesse du Nord to the Sèvres Manufactory’, Apollo, March 1989, pp. 156, 222; this pair of vases are recorded in the Sèvres sales records of 1782: Etat des porcelaines choisies par son excellence le Prince Bariatinsky pour les Comte et Comtesse du Nord : 2 vases Lacrimal beau bleu montés en bronze 2400l; Vy8, 181). Travelling incognito through Austria and Italy using the pseudonyms ‘Comte and Comtesse du Nord’, the illustrious pair arrived in Paris for a month-long stay on 17 May 1782, and thereafter embarked on a vast spending spree of French decorative art, the result of which was to determine the interiors of their palace of Pavlovsk. The baronne d’Oberkirch, a childhood friend of Maria Feodorovna, accompanied the couple to Paris, and in her Mémoires recounted a visit to Sèvres on 13 June 1782, which referred to the Pavlovsk vases, ‘J’entendis madame la comtesse du Nord parler a la reine d’une visite qu’elle avait faite, avec le grand duc, a la manufacture de Sèvres … L’auguste couple acheta pour trois cent mille livres du porcelaines… Pendant ce temps, M. le comte du Nord examinait aussi des vases… (Mémoires de la Baronne d’Oberkirch publiés par le comte de Montbrison son petit-fils, Paris, 1853, pp. 311-312). On the same occasion, the Grand Duchess was presented with a magnificent sixty-four piece beau bleu, white and gold Sèvres toilet service and an impressive pair of ormolu-mounted vases ‘ovoide a bandeau’, a gift from Marie-Antoinette. It seems that the Sèvres porcelain was to accompany the Imperial pair on their return journey to Russia as recalled in the Mémoires, ‘Toute la peur de madame la comtesse du Nord etait que, pendant la route, on ne brisait ces magnifcences’ (ibid). Although the Sèvres accounts show that the ‘lacrimal’ vases were purchased by the Grand Duke, it was later erroneously recorded that they were gifts from Louis XVI (ed. E. Ducamp, Pavlovsk: The Collections, Paris, 1993, p. 141; S. Massie, Pavlovsk: the life of a Russian Palace, Leipzig, 1990, p. 26). The Pavlovsk vases have remained in Maria Feodorovna’s state bedroom at Pavlovsk, and she mentioned them in her 1795 description of the room, ‘In the corners of the room next to the windows are two fine vases of blue Sèvres porcelain standing on half columns of marble…’ (ibid, p. 141)
THE ‘LACRIMAL’ DESIGN
The design of these magnificent vases with their aesthetically severe neoclassical ormolu tripod stands derives from Greek and Roman antique amphora-vases called ‘vase lacrimal’ in the 18th Century. Here the antique clay body and its wrought-iron stand is surmounted by precious ‘beau bleu’ porcelain and finely chased gilt-bronze mounts, making this pair an extraordinary example of archaeological taste prevalent in the second half of the 18th Century. Their creation is possibly inspired by Joseph Marie Vien’s
Suite de Vases Composée dans le Goût de L’Antique (1760); a pair of vases of this form are illustrated on the title page (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-classicism in France, London, 1974, fig. 323). In addition to this, the design almost certainly coincided with the publication of Le Antichità di Ercolano Esposte (Antiquities of Herculaneum Exposed), an eight-volume book of engravings of findings from the excavation of Herculaneum in the Kingdom of Naples, published between 1757 and 1792. Given the date of the Pavlovsk vases, the West Dean vases and stands were probably created in the same period, when the bronzier Duplessis fils (Jean-Claude-Thomas Duplessis) (c. 1730- 1783), was artistic director of the Sèvres manufactory, from 1774 to 1782. This antique form anticipates the fashion of the late 1780s and 1790s – in 1788, Vivant-Denon’s collection of vases etrusques were acquired by the Sèvres manufactory as an inspiration for new forms (M. Brunet, T. Préaud, Sèvres Des origins a nos jours, Fribourg, 1978, p. 214, no. 271). The design was possibly supplied by a marchand-mercier like Dominique Daguerre and interestingly, the Grand Duke and Duchess went to Daguerre’s premises during their 1782 Parisian visit.
THE PORCELAIN
The development of hard-paste porcelain enabled Sèvres to produce vases of this monumental size. One of the most outstanding examples of Sèvres’s ambitious production of this period includes the pair of vases measuring two metres in height designed by Boizot for Louis XVI. The first, now in the Louvre, has mounts begun by Duplessis fils that were completed by Thomire in time for the 1783 Exhibition (S. Eriksen, G. de Bellaigue, Sèvres Porcelain: Vincennes and Sèvres 1740-1800, London, 1987, p. 123; colour plate L). As
a ‘tour de force’ of the collective talent of the ceramicist and bronzier some of these monumental vases were shown at the end-of-the-year sales at Versailles, at the end of which some were kept by the King and others given away (ibid). This may account for the reputed provenance that the present West Dean vases and stands had come from Versailles. The 1894 West Dean inventory indicates that in 1892, one of the two porcelain bodies had been broken in the dealer Sinclair’s shop and a replacement was then supplied by ‘Doulton’, probably the Royal Doulton Factory. The replaced body of one in ceramic thus demonstrates the skill of the Doulton manufactory in imitating Sèvres 18th-century porcelain.
THE MOUNTS ATTRIBUTED TO DUPLESSIS FILS
Although the 1894 West Dean inventory states the mounts are by ‘Gautier’, probably referring to Pierre Gouthière, the ormolu mounts for this vase were almost certainly made to order by Duplessis fils who was still artistic director of the Sèvres manufactory in this period. In 1782, year of the delivery of the Pavlovsk pair, Jean-Claude-Thomas Duplessis was at the height of his career and had an important workshop, which included 17 bronziers working at the Sèvres manufactory and five at his own workshop at rue du Cul-desac in Paris. He succeeded in 1774 to his father Jean-Claude Chambellan Duplessis (d. 1774), bronzier and orfèvre du Roi, as designer and supplier of the Sèvres Manufactory but is first mentioned in 1752 when he was assisting his father in making models for the porcelain manufactory at Vincennes. In 1765, he is registered as maître fondeur en terre et sable. His father seems to have been active until circa 1763 after which date he does not appear to have had any real workshop. Bronzes made during the mid-1760s may therefore be considered as a collaboration of father and son including, for instance, those for the celebrated Bureau du Roi executed by Jean-Francois Oeben and Jean-Henri Riesener between 1760 and 1769, which mark a major stylistic evolution towards neoclassicism embraced by Duplessis fils. Vases à l’antique were indeed a significant part of the oeuvre of Duplessis fils and
he published two series of vases in 1775-80 (P. Verlet, Les bronzes dorés français du XVIII siècle, Paris, 1999, p. 415); the Almanach des Artistes of 1777 lists that he was a ‘bon dessinateur’ and ‘travaille d’apres ses dessins’.
The 1782 delivery date of the Pavlovsk vases also indicates a probable collaboration with Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843), who succeeded Duplessis on his death in 1783. The use of an antique tripod shape stand was largely favoured by Thomire in the following years, especially to mount the ‘vases à monter Daguerre’ produced by the manufactory until 1785.
In 1989, the Pavlovsk vases were described thus, ‘As far as we know, they are the only vases of this model to have survived, if not the only ones to have existed’ (Ennes, op. cit., p. 156). The emergence of the West Dean vases is thus an important discovery.
P. Ennes, ‘The Visit of the Comte and Comtesse du Nord to the Sèvres Manufactory,’ Apollo, March 1989, pp. 150-222.
S. Massie, Pavlovsk: the life of a Russian Palace, Leipzig, 1990, p. 26.
Ed. E. Ducamp, Pavlovsk: The Collections, Paris, 1993, p. 147, illus. 6.
This monumental pair of ormolu-mounted vases are very rare and early examples of an antique model from the Sèvres manufactory. The model is identical to the only other known pair of ‘Vases lacrimales Beau bleu montés en bronze’ in the collection of the palace of Pavlovsk, near St. Petersburg. The West Dean vases and the Pavlovsk vases are remarkable for their great height (about 1.20 metres) and rare avant-garde shape. The only notable differences between the two examples are the addition of an ormolu rim and handles to the Pavlovsk vases (ed. E. Ducamp, Pavlovsk: The Collections, Paris, 1993, p. 147, illus. 6). The Pavlovsk vases were selected by Prince Baryatinsky, Catherine II’s ambassador in Paris, from the Sèvres manufactory, for the Empress’s son, the Grand Duke Paul of Russia and his wife the Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, who purchased them for 2400 livres (P. Ennes, ‘The Visit of the Comte and Comtesse du Nord to the Sèvres Manufactory’, Apollo, March 1989, pp. 156, 222; this pair of vases are recorded in the Sèvres sales records of 1782: Etat des porcelaines choisies par son excellence le Prince Bariatinsky pour les Comte et Comtesse du Nord : 2 vases Lacrimal beau bleu montés en bronze 2400l; Vy8, 181). Travelling incognito through Austria and Italy using the pseudonyms ‘Comte and Comtesse du Nord’, the illustrious pair arrived in Paris for a month-long stay on 17 May 1782, and thereafter embarked on a vast spending spree of French decorative art, the result of which was to determine the interiors of their palace of Pavlovsk. The baronne d’Oberkirch, a childhood friend of Maria Feodorovna, accompanied the couple to Paris, and in her Mémoires recounted a visit to Sèvres on 13 June 1782, which referred to the Pavlovsk vases, ‘J’entendis madame la comtesse du Nord parler a la reine d’une visite qu’elle avait faite, avec le grand duc, a la manufacture de Sèvres … L’auguste couple acheta pour trois cent mille livres du porcelaines… Pendant ce temps, M. le comte du Nord examinait aussi des vases… (Mémoires de la Baronne d’Oberkirch publiés par le comte de Montbrison son petit-fils, Paris, 1853, pp. 311-312). On the same occasion, the Grand Duchess was presented with a magnificent sixty-four piece beau bleu, white and gold Sèvres toilet service and an impressive pair of ormolu-mounted vases ‘ovoide a bandeau’, a gift from Marie-Antoinette. It seems that the Sèvres porcelain was to accompany the Imperial pair on their return journey to Russia as recalled in the Mémoires, ‘Toute la peur de madame la comtesse du Nord etait que, pendant la route, on ne brisait ces magnifcences’ (ibid). Although the Sèvres accounts show that the ‘lacrimal’ vases were purchased by the Grand Duke, it was later erroneously recorded that they were gifts from Louis XVI (ed. E. Ducamp, Pavlovsk: The Collections, Paris, 1993, p. 141; S. Massie, Pavlovsk: the life of a Russian Palace, Leipzig, 1990, p. 26). The Pavlovsk vases have remained in Maria Feodorovna’s state bedroom at Pavlovsk, and she mentioned them in her 1795 description of the room, ‘In the corners of the room next to the windows are two fine vases of blue Sèvres porcelain standing on half columns of marble…’ (ibid, p. 141)
THE ‘LACRIMAL’ DESIGN
The design of these magnificent vases with their aesthetically severe neoclassical ormolu tripod stands derives from Greek and Roman antique amphora-vases called ‘vase lacrimal’ in the 18th Century. Here the antique clay body and its wrought-iron stand is surmounted by precious ‘beau bleu’ porcelain and finely chased gilt-bronze mounts, making this pair an extraordinary example of archaeological taste prevalent in the second half of the 18th Century. Their creation is possibly inspired by Joseph Marie Vien’s
Suite de Vases Composée dans le Goût de L’Antique (1760); a pair of vases of this form are illustrated on the title page (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-classicism in France, London, 1974, fig. 323). In addition to this, the design almost certainly coincided with the publication of Le Antichità di Ercolano Esposte (Antiquities of Herculaneum Exposed), an eight-volume book of engravings of findings from the excavation of Herculaneum in the Kingdom of Naples, published between 1757 and 1792. Given the date of the Pavlovsk vases, the West Dean vases and stands were probably created in the same period, when the bronzier Duplessis fils (Jean-Claude-Thomas Duplessis) (c. 1730- 1783), was artistic director of the Sèvres manufactory, from 1774 to 1782. This antique form anticipates the fashion of the late 1780s and 1790s – in 1788, Vivant-Denon’s collection of vases etrusques were acquired by the Sèvres manufactory as an inspiration for new forms (M. Brunet, T. Préaud, Sèvres Des origins a nos jours, Fribourg, 1978, p. 214, no. 271). The design was possibly supplied by a marchand-mercier like Dominique Daguerre and interestingly, the Grand Duke and Duchess went to Daguerre’s premises during their 1782 Parisian visit.
THE PORCELAIN
The development of hard-paste porcelain enabled Sèvres to produce vases of this monumental size. One of the most outstanding examples of Sèvres’s ambitious production of this period includes the pair of vases measuring two metres in height designed by Boizot for Louis XVI. The first, now in the Louvre, has mounts begun by Duplessis fils that were completed by Thomire in time for the 1783 Exhibition (S. Eriksen, G. de Bellaigue, Sèvres Porcelain: Vincennes and Sèvres 1740-1800, London, 1987, p. 123; colour plate L). As
a ‘tour de force’ of the collective talent of the ceramicist and bronzier some of these monumental vases were shown at the end-of-the-year sales at Versailles, at the end of which some were kept by the King and others given away (ibid). This may account for the reputed provenance that the present West Dean vases and stands had come from Versailles. The 1894 West Dean inventory indicates that in 1892, one of the two porcelain bodies had been broken in the dealer Sinclair’s shop and a replacement was then supplied by ‘Doulton’, probably the Royal Doulton Factory. The replaced body of one in ceramic thus demonstrates the skill of the Doulton manufactory in imitating Sèvres 18th-century porcelain.
THE MOUNTS ATTRIBUTED TO DUPLESSIS FILS
Although the 1894 West Dean inventory states the mounts are by ‘Gautier’, probably referring to Pierre Gouthière, the ormolu mounts for this vase were almost certainly made to order by Duplessis fils who was still artistic director of the Sèvres manufactory in this period. In 1782, year of the delivery of the Pavlovsk pair, Jean-Claude-Thomas Duplessis was at the height of his career and had an important workshop, which included 17 bronziers working at the Sèvres manufactory and five at his own workshop at rue du Cul-desac in Paris. He succeeded in 1774 to his father Jean-Claude Chambellan Duplessis (d. 1774), bronzier and orfèvre du Roi, as designer and supplier of the Sèvres Manufactory but is first mentioned in 1752 when he was assisting his father in making models for the porcelain manufactory at Vincennes. In 1765, he is registered as maître fondeur en terre et sable. His father seems to have been active until circa 1763 after which date he does not appear to have had any real workshop. Bronzes made during the mid-1760s may therefore be considered as a collaboration of father and son including, for instance, those for the celebrated Bureau du Roi executed by Jean-Francois Oeben and Jean-Henri Riesener between 1760 and 1769, which mark a major stylistic evolution towards neoclassicism embraced by Duplessis fils. Vases à l’antique were indeed a significant part of the oeuvre of Duplessis fils and
he published two series of vases in 1775-80 (P. Verlet, Les bronzes dorés français du XVIII siècle, Paris, 1999, p. 415); the Almanach des Artistes of 1777 lists that he was a ‘bon dessinateur’ and ‘travaille d’apres ses dessins’.
The 1782 delivery date of the Pavlovsk vases also indicates a probable collaboration with Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843), who succeeded Duplessis on his death in 1783. The use of an antique tripod shape stand was largely favoured by Thomire in the following years, especially to mount the ‘vases à monter Daguerre’ produced by the manufactory until 1785.
In 1989, the Pavlovsk vases were described thus, ‘As far as we know, they are the only vases of this model to have survived, if not the only ones to have existed’ (Ennes, op. cit., p. 156). The emergence of the West Dean vases is thus an important discovery.