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1 of 253523 objects
Pair of mounted vases 1789-90
Hard-paste porcelain, black ground, platinum, two tones of gold and gilt bronze | .1 33.5 x 11.5 x, 11.5 .2 33.7 x 11.5 x 11.5 cm (whole object) | RCIN 2344
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A pair of hard-paste porcelain vases; the black ground painted in two-tone gold and platinum, with gilt-bronze mounts. Decorated with floral garlands around the neck and Chinoiserie scenes of hunting and worship around the main body. The chased mounts including a flared lip with gadrooning and beading, and a circular beaded foot mounted on a square base.
The inspiration for this model may have been one of the so-called Etruscan vases sold to Louis XVI by Vivant Denon (1747-1825) in 1786. This collection was placed on deposit at Sèvres to provide inspiration for the artists and sculptors. Only one other pair of vases of this form is known.
The fashion for black-ground chinoiserie scenes at Sèvres, variously described as fond noir or fond écaille, reflected the taste for oriental-inspired decoration and reached its height between 1790 and 1793. A possible source for the two figures worshipping a monkey seated on a column is an engraving published in 1759 by Pierre-Charles Canot (b.1710) after Jean-Baptiste Pillement.
The prevailing neo-classical style is represented by the gilded swags and garlands and scrolling arabesques, which, stylistically, are close to the gilt-bronze mounts fitted to furniture in the Louis XVI style.
Text adapted from French Porcelain for English Palaces, Sèvres from the Royal Collection, London, 2009Provenance
The vases were possibly purchased from Robert Fogg, whose bill covering the period 5 April to 5 July 1812 included the following item: ‘25 May 1812 2 Vases black & perl finely mounted £84’.
They were entered by Benjamin Jutsham in October 1812 in the Carlton House receipts ledger: ‘[Received from] Mr Fogg Two fine Black and Pearl Vases, mounted in Or Molu [Remarks] in Bow Room Principal Floor sent in May 25’. They are recorded in the Rose Satin Drawing Room of Carlton House in a watercolour of c. 1818, RCIN 922181. -
Creator(s)
(porcelain manufacturer)(metalworker)(nationality)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Hard-paste porcelain, black ground, platinum, two tones of gold and gilt bronze
Measurements
.1 33.5 x 11.5 x, 11.5 .2 33.7 x 11.5 x 11.5 cm (whole object)
Place of Production
Sèvres [France]