Vase

Maker Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (French, active from 1756 to the present)

Additional Title(s)

Vase Colonne de Paris
Vase Paris Enfants

ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS

Dateca. 1780

Mediumsoft-paste porcelain, overglaze dark blue ground color, polychrome enamel decoration, gilding

Dimensions15 5/8 x 7 5/8 x 6 1/8 in. (39.7 x 19.4 x 15.6 cm.)

DescriptionThe flanking urn-shaped vases are on plain stems with with a simple band collar a plain, banded foot and square plinths, have fluted necks and garland rim. Children flank either side of the necland hold garlands. The shallow domed cover has a pinecone knop.

InscribedIncised marks: pair of vases each marked twice (under the pedestal and inside the lip), IO caron; center vase marked (under the pedestal), 41; Duveen label: 28669 / 3

MarkingsIncised marks: pair of vases each marked twice (under the pedestal and inside the lip), IO caron; center vase marked (under the pedestal), 41; Duveen label: 28669 / 3

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. The Arabella D. Huntington Memorial Art Collection.

Label TextThe two different vase shapes represented in this garniture are part of a group of neoclassical models that were introduced during the period between the mid-1770s and the late 1780s and referred to in the factory documents as vases Paris. Shapes from this group are commonly associated with the répareur and thrower Jacques-François Paris or Deparis (1735-1797). He came to the manufactory at Vincennes in 1746 as a student, became an apprentice in 1749, and a full répareur by 1752, eventually becoming a chief assistant to Jean-Claude Duplessis. In 1774, after Duplessis' death, Paris succeeded him as head of the répareurs and of the soft-paste workshop at Sèvres. From 1775 he is thought to have designed the shapes that bear the designation "Paris," although his specific role in the creation of these models cannot be determined. It seems unlikely that, as a craftsman who began working at the manufactory at the age of eleven, he would have had the training necessary to provide designs for sophisticated new shapes, and although his work was well regarded and vital to the production process, the record of his compensation does not appear to be consistent with that of a major designer. The overall group of vases Paris was produced under the broader artistic direction of Louis-Simon Boizot, who had been appointed director of sculpture in 1773. Boizot would probably have overseen the creation of models with sculptural elements such as the handles in the form of children on the smaller vases of this garniture.
The shape for the central vase of the garniture was probably that referred to during the eighteenth century as a vase Paris de milieu; during the nineteenth century it was described as a vase de côté de Paris. The shape was introduced in two sizes by 1776. It was made in two basic versions with slight variations to the lids and pedestals. This example is of the largest size marked by acanthus leaves rising along the sides forming high scrolled handles. The second and smaller size of this model has less elaborate acanthus leaf handles that terminate in laurel swags that drape across the shoulder.
The shape of the side vases was referred to during the eighteenth century as vase Paris enfants or vase colonne de Paris. It was also made in two basic versions with slight variations to the lids and pedestals. This pair is of the more elaborate version that has an oval medallion on the front and back of the high fluted neck. The model is distinguished by the pair of molded gilded children kneeling on the shoulders, their feet supported on volutes rising from the base, who drape molded laurel swags around the neck over the medallions. The other version of this model does not have medallions at the neck.
All three vases are decorated with an overglaze dark blue (beau bleu) ground color. Each vase was painted in a colored ovoid reserve on the front with rustic domestic scenes. The back of each vase has a white reserve of the same size and shape as on the front, painted in polychrome with trophies suspended from bowed ribbons. Each reserve is edged with a wide tooled gilded band surrounded by an elaborate gilded design of scrolls, palm branches, and vines terminating at the two upper ends with vases of flowers. The oval medallions on the side vases are painted in polychrome on white, with trophies of toys on the front medallions and pastoral trophies on the back (fig. 00).
The figural scene on the central vase is based on an engraving after a painting by the Swiss artist Sigmund Freudenberger (1745-1801); for a discussion of this decoration, see the essay by Jeffrey Weaver in this volume. The sources for the figural scenes on the flanking vases have not been identified and it is not known who painted these figural scenes. Savill notes that Charles-Nicolas Dodin is documented as having painted miniatures on a vase Paris de milieu and two vases Paris enfants with blue grounds in 1779. However, the back reserves of those were painted with landscapes, so clearly this is not the Huntington set, and the figural painting on these vases does not seem typical of Dodin's work. Other candidates are Charles-Eloi Asselin (1743-1804) and Nicolas-Pierre Pithou (1750-1818), both of whom are recorded as having painted miniatures on vases Paris during this period. Similarly, it is not known who executed the fine and elaborate gilding on this garniture. Etienne-Henry Le Guay (1719 or 1720-c. 1799) and Henri-Martin Prévost (active 1757-1797) were both exceptional gilders and recorded as having worked on various vases Paris around 1780.
The back reserve on the central vase is painted with a trophy incorporating rural attributes (a sheaf of wheat, scythe, distaff, and rake) with martial attributes (a sword shield, quiver, and rifle) with a basket holding bottles and a ceramic jug suspended below. The trophy on the back of the left vase (27.138) includes gardening tools (spade, hoe, and pick) with a straw hat and basket containing eggs, wheat, and cheese. The trophy on the back of the right vase (27.140) includes a scythe, sheaf of wheat, butter churn, fabric cap, bird cage, and a toy windmill on a stick. The trophies on the front medallions of the side vases are exclusively of toys-including a spotted horse on wheels, hoop, and windmill on a stick on the left vase and a female doll, drum, horn, top, and a windmill on a stick on the right vase. The medallions on the back of each side vase have pastoral trophies including a basket of flowers and rake on the left vase and a watering can, hand shovel, and distaff on the right vase. All the trophies on the back reserves and medallions appear to have been painted by the same artist. Trophies of similar character depicting toys are found on other vases dating around 1780. Such a toy trophy is represented on the back of a vase Paris enfants in Detroit dated 1781, and a trophy with a grouping of toys very similar to that on the right vase of the Huntington garniture is found on the side of a vase ferré dated about 1779. Savill attributes the painting of the latter to Louis-Gabriel Chulot (1736-1824).
A consistent theme thus unifies the decorative elements of this garniture. The narrative scenes are about a rural boy. This theme is maintained in the painted trophies that include attributes of childhood and rural life and in the sculptural elements of the gilded children on the side vases. A similarly consistent theme is found on the vase Paris enfants in Detroit, which has a rustic scene with a woman and children represented on the front of the vase. A pair of vases des âges à têtes d'enfants of about 1780-1782 in the British Royal Collection has rustic scenes with children after works by Freudenberger on the fronts and trophies with toys on the backs.
The Huntington vases were in the collection of Alfred de Rothschild at the end of the nineteenth century, possibly having been inherited from his father Baron Lionel de Rothschild; see also cat. 85. After Alfred's death in 1918, the vases went to his illegitimate daughter, Almina, countess of Carnarvon, who inherited his London residence, 1 Seymour Place, and its contents. Lady Carnarvon sold her father's Sèvres at auction in 1925. These vases, lot 261, were purchased at that sale for £1,200 by a Parisian dealer with the surname Founès, perhaps Isaac Founès located on the rue Saint-Honoré. When Henry Huntington decided to form a collection in honor of his late wife (see the essay by Shelley Bennett in this volume), the New York office of the Duveen firm sent a cable to the London office on November 23, 1926, referring to these vases:
. . . he [Henry Huntington] wishes to form great collection eighteenth century furniture marbles etcetera in wifes memory . . . Told him we purchased greater part Childroth [i.e., Rothschild, meaning Carnarvon] collection so everything we have left there from going there plus many things in stock here . . . Firstly want get back as many Childroth objects as possible so give following sale catalogue numbers that you endeavor buy them London Paris offering ten percent profit . . . Two six one Three vases and covers Founes . . .
Six days later, the Duveen firm offered Founès £2,000 for the three vases. Founès asked for £2,500, and they eventually settled in early December on £2,200 for the three vases. In January 1927 they were sold by the Duveen firm to Henry Huntington as part of the Arabella D. Huntington Memorial Art Collection for $60,000.

Status

On view

Object number27.138