A Pair of Vincennes Gilt-Metal Mounted Porcelain Orange Tubs (Caisses à Fleurs Carrées, 2ème Grandeur) Fitted with Porcelain Flowers on Papier-Mâché Stems
The Porcelain Pots 1755
one bearing blue interlaced Ls enclosing date letter B and unidentified flower painter's mark O, the other with a mark of four dots forming a lozenge for Fontaine, the finials later metal replacements, the porcelain flowers also of later date; each square tub on bracket feet with each panel painted in colors with a loose bouquet within a camieu bleu trailing vine, fitted with papier-mâché-wrapped metal stems, paper leaves and porcelain flowerheads issuing from the papier-mâché ‘earth’.
Height of cache pots overall 5 5/8 inches; height overall (including plants) 15 1/2 inches.
This lot is located in Chicago.
Condition reports are available upon request. All lots are sold “as is,” in the condition they are in at the time of the auction. The physical condition of lots can vary due to age, normal wear and tear, previous damage, and restoration. Prospective buyers are strongly advised to inspect a lot personally or through a knowledgeable representative prior to bidding. The absence of any reference to the condition of a lot does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections, or the effects of aging. Prospective buyers must review and agree to the Conditions of Sale before participating in an auction, and it is the responsibility of the buyer to ensure that they have requested, received and considered any condition report.
Provenance:
Carlton Hobbs, London, 8 July 1996 (with invoice)
Note:
The present flowerpots are in the shape of the large square tubs designed specifically to hold orange trees. They were produced at both Vincennes and at Sèvres in a variety of sizes of which the present pair are an example of the second largest.
A pair of orange tubs, similar in size and decoration to the present two, both with blue interlaced Ls and the painter’s mark of a comma for Charles-Louis Méreaud, one also with date letter G for 1760, is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Barbara Lowe Fallas, 1964 (64.159.2a, b, .3a, b).
The flower painting on the present caisses carrées is by Jacques Fontaine (active 1752-1807), recorded at Vincennes and Sèvres as a painter specializing in flowers, figures, patterns and the highly specialized techniques of cameo decoration popular in the late 1770s and 1780s. He is also recorded as a gilder. His younger sister Mlle. Marie-Louise Fontaine also used a similar mark, but as she is recorded as a painter specializing in flowers and patterns from 1777-1794, the mark on the present orange tubs cannot be hers.