A Sèvres Lavender-Ground Chinoiserie Hard-Paste Porcelain Cup and a Saucer (Gobelet 'Litron' et une Soucoupe, 1ère Grandeur)
Circa 1777
the cup with iron-red crowned interlaced Ls enclosing date letter Z above painter’s mark LG for Legrand, further incised CS, the saucer with iron-red crowned interlaced Ls, painter’s mark BY probably for Bailly fils, further incised SC; both richly painted and gilt with chinoiserie figures, those on the cup and the border of the saucer at leisure pursuits, reserved within gilt-banded angled panels on the lavender ground which is further decorated with a green ribbon trellis having carmine flowerheads at the angles, the trellis on the cup enclosing gilt oeil-de-perdrix and that on the saucer enclosing four reserved white dots, exhibiting a trailing vine of flowers between gilt bands at all rims and enclosing the central saucer decoration showing two cranes in a garden, the bands on the cup chased.
Height of cup 3 inches; diameter of saucer 6 1/4 inches.
This lot is located in Chicago.
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Note:
Although at first glance the present cup and saucer appear to have identical decoration, close scrutiny reveals the small differences noted in the catalogue entry. Also different are the tooling patterns enclosing the chinoiserie panels, and the style of painting of the trailing vine. If one looks closely, it is possible to discern a very subtle difference in the ground color on the two pieces, that of the saucer being very slightly bluer.
For these reasons, the two pieces have been described as matched. It is not impossible that one was made as a slightly later replacement, or that the two pieces were originally part of a small set, painted by different hands and at some point the cups and saucers mis-matched.
Louis-Antoine Le Grand fils (later père, active 1776-1824), recorded at Sèvres as a painter specializing in figures, chinoiserie, birds and flowers and as a gilder, is likely responsible for the chinoiserie panels on the present lot. Bailly fils (active 1773-1779), recorded at Sèvres as a painter specializing in flowers and chinoiseries and as a gilder, is more likely responsible for the flowers and the gilding.