Sophie von der Goltz
Head of Sale
Lot 178*
A very rare Sèvres footed bowl (coupe à bouillon hémisphérique) and stand, circa 1804
7 – 8 July 2022, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £14,025 inc. premium
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Sebastian Kuhn
Department Director
Nette Megens
Head of Department, Director
A very rare Sèvres footed bowl (coupe à bouillon hémisphérique) and stand, circa 1804
The coupe painted with gilt-edged medallions of grisaille scenes from La Fontaine's fables, on a puce ground surrounded by gilt foliate scrollwork, on a pale yellow-ground band flanked by tulips and foliage, applied with gilt strap handles, the foot and interior gilt, the stand similarly decorated and painted with further grisaille animals, the well with a puce-ground band embellished with a gilt foliate border and a gilt flower motif in the centre, the coupe: 12cm high; the stand: 22.2cm diam., M. Imp le/de Sevres/ʌ in iron-red to stand, incised -II- and DC to both (tiny chip to footrim of coupe) (2)
Footnotes
The La Fontaine fables depicted on the coupe are:
The Monkey and the Dolphin
The Cat, the Weasel and the young Rabbit
The Fox and the Bust
A first drawing of this shape, probably by Claude-Charles Gérard in 1803, bears the inscription 'Coupe à bouillon et sa soucoupe à deux anses à moulures an XI mois ventôse' [Bouillon cup and saucer with two handles with mouldings in the 11th month of Ventôse] (February-March 1803); see T.Préaud, The Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory - Alexandre Brongniart and the Triumph of Art and Industry, 1800-1847 (1997), p.175. The actual name of 'coupe à bouillon hémisphérique' however does not appear until 1804, on a drawing by Charles-Eloi Asselin (Sèvres, Cité de la Céramique, inv. 2011.3.2105, ill. 1, illustrated in Préaud (1997), no. 10).
