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Lot Essay
This magnificent pot-pourri bowl is a bold manifestation of the 'goût pittoresque' or rococo style of the mid-18th Century. The taste for ormolu-mounted celadon porcelain seems to have been at its height in Paris in the 1750s. Lazare Duvaux, for instance, records in his Livre-Journal numerous purchases of such porcelain by leading collectors; among his richest clients was the marquis de Voyer d'Argenson who, as Courajod reports, 'achetait surtout chez Duvaux de la porcelaine Céladon garnie de pieds & de montures de bronze doré. Plus souvent, possesseur de pièces de choix, il chargeoit Duvaux de les monter. Celui-ci le mit en rapport avec le célèbre modeleur Duplessis...' (Livre-Journal de Lazare Duvaux, 2 vols. ed. L. Courajod, Paris, 1873, p. XXXIII). D'Argenson's most expensive purchase of this type is recorded in September 1750 (no. 601): 'Deux gros vases de porcelaine Céladon, montés par Duplessis en bronze doré d'ormolu 3000 l.' The descriptions are all far too brief to allow definite identification but certainly this purchase of mounted celadon is approached in value only by one made by the celebrated collector Gaignat who bought 'Deux urnes de porcelaine céladon, couvertes, montées en bronze dori d'or moulu par Duplessis, 2920 l.' on 16 March 1754. Gaignat's collection was sold after his death in 1768 and the catalogue, written by Poirier, contained twelve mounted pieces of celadon (lots 84-95). The rococo bronze mounts may well have been executed by Duplessis, whose connection with Gaignat is recorded by Lazare Duvaux (op. cit.). Interestingly, the distinctive scroll foot on this vase is similar in character to mounts for Sèvres porcelain designed by Duplessis père.
In January 1752 the prince de Talleyrand paid an even higher price for a single mounted celadon vase for 1,680 livres. Prices paid to Duvaux by Madame de Pompadour included 1,090 livres for a single 'vase de porcelaine céladon' (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue Furniture, vol. II, London, 1996, no. 281 (F113)).
A vase of related scale, although with watery ornament, was reputedly supplied to Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia and remained at Catherine Palace at Tsarskoe Seloe until the early 20th century (sold at Christie's London, 5 July 2001, lot 75).
JEAN-CLAUDE DUPLESSIS
Jean-Claude Chambellan Duplessis, père (d. 1774), Torinese by birth, sculptor, decorative designer and fondeur-ciseleur, is known chiefly for his work as a modeller at the Sèvres factory, including a design named after him - Vase Duplessis - with distinctive overscrolled handles such as those on the present bowl. Documented bronzes by him are extremely rare: among the best known examples are the mounts for the Bureau du Roi of Louis XV and a mounted Sèvres vase of flowers on shaped base given by the Dauphine Maria-Josèphe to her father Augustus III, King of Saxony in 1749 (Serge Gauthier, Les Porcelainiers du XVIIIe Siècle Français, 1964, p. 169).
In January 1752 the prince de Talleyrand paid an even higher price for a single mounted celadon vase for 1,680 livres. Prices paid to Duvaux by Madame de Pompadour included 1,090 livres for a single 'vase de porcelaine céladon' (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue Furniture, vol. II, London, 1996, no. 281 (F113)).
A vase of related scale, although with watery ornament, was reputedly supplied to Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia and remained at Catherine Palace at Tsarskoe Seloe until the early 20th century (sold at Christie's London, 5 July 2001, lot 75).
JEAN-CLAUDE DUPLESSIS
Jean-Claude Chambellan Duplessis, père (d. 1774), Torinese by birth, sculptor, decorative designer and fondeur-ciseleur, is known chiefly for his work as a modeller at the Sèvres factory, including a design named after him - Vase Duplessis - with distinctive overscrolled handles such as those on the present bowl. Documented bronzes by him are extremely rare: among the best known examples are the mounts for the Bureau du Roi of Louis XV and a mounted Sèvres vase of flowers on shaped base given by the Dauphine Maria-Josèphe to her father Augustus III, King of Saxony in 1749 (Serge Gauthier, Les Porcelainiers du XVIIIe Siècle Français, 1964, p. 169).