Lot 1194 - A200 Decorative Arts - Thursday, 31. March 2022, 10.00 AM
A PAIR OF EWERS WITH GILT BRONZE MOUNTS
Louis XV, the porcelain Meissen, ca. 1745-50, the bronze mounts Paris, ca. 1745-50.
Ovoid vase with cylindrical neck, painted with fine Watteau scenes on pierced rocaille consoles in sepia. Mounted on pierced rocaille bases, transitioning into the handle. Rocaille-decorated spout. Decorated with leaves and blossoming branches. Underglaze blue sword mark on the back of the base of one vessel.
H 43 cm.
Later gilding. The vessels trimmed at the neck for mounting, one of the mounts is slightly incomplete, one of the vessels is glued to the bronze base.
A similar pair of ewers was sold at Artcurial Paris in November 2019 (Sale 3813, Lot No. 42).
Dating back to the Renaissance, the tradition of setting objects in metal mounts reached its peak in the 18th century. In the early period, the mounts were mainly made of silver and gold, but from the 17th century onwards, they were mainly made of gilt bronze. The reason for its popularity in the 18th century was the endeavor to bring objects from the Asian cultural sphere closer to the local taste, by combining them with European bronze decoration, so that they could be more easily integrated into contemporary interiors. Such works were mostly commissioned by the so-called "marchands-merciers" and were not limited to products from China or Japan. Connections between the Parisian "marchands-merciers" and the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, from the 1820s onwards, are documented in various ways. Since the bronze works were only very rarely signed, attributing them to a particular artist is very difficult.
Pierre Kjellberg. Objets montés. Paris 2000, with illustrations of ewers with comparable bronzes on p. 51 and p. 60. Carolyn Sargentson. Merchants and Luxury Markets. The Marchand-Merciers of Eighteenth-Century Paris. London, 1996. pp. 73-76.
CHF 20 000 / 30 000 | (€ 20 620 / 30 930)
Sold for CHF 22 260 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.