Vase
- Date
- 1774
- made in
- Sèvres, Île-de-France region, France, Europe
- Classification
- Ceramics, containers
- Collection
- Decorative Arts and Design
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 6 in. (31.8 x 24.1 x 15.2 cm)
- Credit Line
- Seek Beauty and Find Love: Jane and Whitney Harris
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 80:2000.1
NOTES
The sumptuous blue surface, gilded leaf-handles, and delicate painting of these ornamental vases exemplify the Sevres factory's mastery of porcelain making in the mid 18th-century. Rimmed in gold, the top opening resembles precious shells while the handles seem to have been formed by encasing myrtle leaves in gold. The vases bear narrative scenes based on compositions by the French painter Jean-Baptist Greuze (1725-1805). The Blind Man Fooled (L'Aveugle trompé) shows a young woman fooling her blind husband as she attempts to sneak her lover out of the basement and away before her spouse discovers her ruse.
Provenance
1774 -
Elisabeth-Thèodore Le Tonnelier de Breteuil (1712-1781), Sèvres and Paris, France [1]
- 1794
Aymar-Charles-Marie de Nicolaï (1747-1794), Paris, France [2]
1794 - 1796
La Commission Temporaire des Arts, confiscated from the family of Aymar-Charles-Marie de Nicolaï [3]
1796 - 1797
Family of Aymar-Charles-Marie de Nicolaï, restituted from La Commission Temporaire des Arts, Paris, France [4]
1797/05/25
In auction of "Catalogue de Tableaux de Diverses Écoles; Groupes & Figures en Bronze, & Bronze doré, Porcelaines anciennes, du Japon, de la Chine & de Sèvres: Provenant du Cabinet du Feu Citoyen de Nicolaï," Paris, France. May 25, 1797, lot no. 57 [5]
c. 1802 - 1965
Edward, Viscount Lascelles (1764-1814), Harewood House, London, England; Earls of Harewood, Yorkshire, England, by inheritance [6]
1965/07/01
Sold at auction, Christie's London, "Highly Important Sèvres Porcelain, Chinese-Mounted Porcelain and Fine English Furniture, The Property of the Right Honourable The Earl of Harewood," July 1, 1965, lot no. 25 [7]
by 1999 -
Galerie Steinitz, Paris, France
- 2000
John Whitehead, London, England
2000 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from John Whitehead [8]
Notes:
This vase is one of a pair (80:2000.1, .2) that shares the same provenance. The primary source for the revised provenance is an article entitled "Une Exceptionelle Garniture de Sèvres" by Vincent Bastien, independent scholar, Paris, France, in the journal L'Estampille/L'Object d'Art, 462 (2010): 54-59; Bastien provided supporting information to the museum through e-mail correspondence [SLAM document files]. Additional supporting documents are noted. The pair of vases (80:2000.1, .2) is believed to be part of a set of five vases.
[1] Elisabeth-Thèodore Le Tonnelier de Breteuil was the chancellor and keeper of the Seals of the Duc d'Orleans, and also an abbot. He purchased both vases as part of a larger five-piece garniture when he took up residence in the Pavillon de Breteuil in Sèvres.
[2] Aymar-Charles-Marie de Nicolaï was a French magistrate and the president of La Chambre des Comptes. A supporter of Louis XVI, he was guillotined on July 7, 1794.
[3] La Commission Temporaire des Arts seized many works of art and furniture, including the five-piece garniture, from Aymar-Charles-Marie de Nicolaï's home on 8 Rue des Enfants-Rouges after his execution. The garniture was recorded in the Commission's records on October 13, 1794. They were moved to a storage facility, dépôt de L'Infantado, on July 17, 1796.
The Temporary Arts Commission was formed in 1793 to preserve "worthy" works of art and buildings remaining from the Ancien Régime that possessed aesthetic or historical value. The Temporary Arts Commission was formed in reaction to widespread acts of iconoclasm during and after the French Revolution [Idzerda, Stanley J. "Iconoclasm during the French Revolution." "The American Historical Review" Vol. 60, No. 1 (Oct. 1954), 13-26].
[4] The complete garniture was restituted to the family of Aymar-Charles-Marie de Nicolaï on July 24, 1796.
[5] The garniture was sold at an auction organized by Jean-Baptiste-Pierre LeBrun (1748-1813) to an unknown buyer ["Catalogue de Tableaux de Diverses Écoles; Groupes & Figures en Bronze, & Bronze doré, Porcelaines anciennes, du Japon, de la Chine & de Sève: Provenant du Cabinet du Feu Citoyen de Nicolaï" Paris, France. May 25, 1797, lot no. 57].
[6] It is possible that the garniture was purchased in France by Viscount Lascelles in the early nineteenth century, possibly as early as 1802, when the cessation of hostilities between France and England (Treaty of Amiens) inspired English collectors to travel to Paris to take advantage of the dispersals of great French collections ["Foreword," Christie's, London, "Highly Important Sèvres Porcelain, Chinese-Mounted Porcelain and Fine English Furniture," July 1, 1965, unpaginated; and Christie's, London, "Magnificent French Furniture and Works of Art," December 12, 2002, p.126].
[7] See note [6]. A Christie's catalogue from the 1965 sale is annotated in handwritten note: "purchased by Simpkins," next to the entry for lot no. 25 [copy of annotated page in SLAM document files]. Research has not yet determined whether Simpkins was a firm or individual buyer. Lord Harewood sold a number of pieces of Sèvres porcelain at this auction. The five-piece garniture was sold as three separate lots at this auction. The central vase (lot no. 26) was purchased by "Darry", and the two bottles and covers (lot no. 22) were purchased by "Williams" ["Highly Important Sèvres Porcelain, Chinese-Mounted Porcelain and Fine English Furniture" Christie's, London, July 1, 1965, lot nos. 22, 25, and 26].
[8] Per invoice dated November 11, 2000 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 6, 2000.
Elisabeth-Thèodore Le Tonnelier de Breteuil (1712-1781), Sèvres and Paris, France [1]
- 1794
Aymar-Charles-Marie de Nicolaï (1747-1794), Paris, France [2]
1794 - 1796
La Commission Temporaire des Arts, confiscated from the family of Aymar-Charles-Marie de Nicolaï [3]
1796 - 1797
Family of Aymar-Charles-Marie de Nicolaï, restituted from La Commission Temporaire des Arts, Paris, France [4]
1797/05/25
In auction of "Catalogue de Tableaux de Diverses Écoles; Groupes & Figures en Bronze, & Bronze doré, Porcelaines anciennes, du Japon, de la Chine & de Sèvres: Provenant du Cabinet du Feu Citoyen de Nicolaï," Paris, France. May 25, 1797, lot no. 57 [5]
c. 1802 - 1965
Edward, Viscount Lascelles (1764-1814), Harewood House, London, England; Earls of Harewood, Yorkshire, England, by inheritance [6]
1965/07/01
Sold at auction, Christie's London, "Highly Important Sèvres Porcelain, Chinese-Mounted Porcelain and Fine English Furniture, The Property of the Right Honourable The Earl of Harewood," July 1, 1965, lot no. 25 [7]
by 1999 -
Galerie Steinitz, Paris, France
- 2000
John Whitehead, London, England
2000 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from John Whitehead [8]
Notes:
This vase is one of a pair (80:2000.1, .2) that shares the same provenance. The primary source for the revised provenance is an article entitled "Une Exceptionelle Garniture de Sèvres" by Vincent Bastien, independent scholar, Paris, France, in the journal L'Estampille/L'Object d'Art, 462 (2010): 54-59; Bastien provided supporting information to the museum through e-mail correspondence [SLAM document files]. Additional supporting documents are noted. The pair of vases (80:2000.1, .2) is believed to be part of a set of five vases.
[1] Elisabeth-Thèodore Le Tonnelier de Breteuil was the chancellor and keeper of the Seals of the Duc d'Orleans, and also an abbot. He purchased both vases as part of a larger five-piece garniture when he took up residence in the Pavillon de Breteuil in Sèvres.
[2] Aymar-Charles-Marie de Nicolaï was a French magistrate and the president of La Chambre des Comptes. A supporter of Louis XVI, he was guillotined on July 7, 1794.
[3] La Commission Temporaire des Arts seized many works of art and furniture, including the five-piece garniture, from Aymar-Charles-Marie de Nicolaï's home on 8 Rue des Enfants-Rouges after his execution. The garniture was recorded in the Commission's records on October 13, 1794. They were moved to a storage facility, dépôt de L'Infantado, on July 17, 1796.
The Temporary Arts Commission was formed in 1793 to preserve "worthy" works of art and buildings remaining from the Ancien Régime that possessed aesthetic or historical value. The Temporary Arts Commission was formed in reaction to widespread acts of iconoclasm during and after the French Revolution [Idzerda, Stanley J. "Iconoclasm during the French Revolution." "The American Historical Review" Vol. 60, No. 1 (Oct. 1954), 13-26].
[4] The complete garniture was restituted to the family of Aymar-Charles-Marie de Nicolaï on July 24, 1796.
[5] The garniture was sold at an auction organized by Jean-Baptiste-Pierre LeBrun (1748-1813) to an unknown buyer ["Catalogue de Tableaux de Diverses Écoles; Groupes & Figures en Bronze, & Bronze doré, Porcelaines anciennes, du Japon, de la Chine & de Sève: Provenant du Cabinet du Feu Citoyen de Nicolaï" Paris, France. May 25, 1797, lot no. 57].
[6] It is possible that the garniture was purchased in France by Viscount Lascelles in the early nineteenth century, possibly as early as 1802, when the cessation of hostilities between France and England (Treaty of Amiens) inspired English collectors to travel to Paris to take advantage of the dispersals of great French collections ["Foreword," Christie's, London, "Highly Important Sèvres Porcelain, Chinese-Mounted Porcelain and Fine English Furniture," July 1, 1965, unpaginated; and Christie's, London, "Magnificent French Furniture and Works of Art," December 12, 2002, p.126].
[7] See note [6]. A Christie's catalogue from the 1965 sale is annotated in handwritten note: "purchased by Simpkins," next to the entry for lot no. 25 [copy of annotated page in SLAM document files]. Research has not yet determined whether Simpkins was a firm or individual buyer. Lord Harewood sold a number of pieces of Sèvres porcelain at this auction. The five-piece garniture was sold as three separate lots at this auction. The central vase (lot no. 26) was purchased by "Darry", and the two bottles and covers (lot no. 22) were purchased by "Williams" ["Highly Important Sèvres Porcelain, Chinese-Mounted Porcelain and Fine English Furniture" Christie's, London, July 1, 1965, lot nos. 22, 25, and 26].
[8] Per invoice dated November 11, 2000 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 6, 2000.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.