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Lot Essay
This celebrated model is one of the earliest types of mounted Sèvres vases and, judging from the number of surviving examples, the most enduringly successful. Designed to contain a three-branch candelabrum that popped up when the lid was removed, it could serve both as a decorative pot-pourri vase and a lighting device.
JEAN DULAC AS INVENTOR OF MOUNTED VASES
The first record at Sèvres of a 'vase a monter' occurs in the glaze kiln records for 1764, but they must have been in production slightly earlier. This is apparent from an example originally in the collection of Madame de Pompadour and described in the probate inventory taken upon her death in 1764. Of green Sèvres porcelain, it contains a reduction in silver of the equestrian statue of King Louis XV erected in the Place Royale in Paris in 1763; it must therefore have been made in 1763, or 1764 at the latest. Like the candelabrum originally in the present vase, the equestrian statue pops up when the vase is opened. The gilt bronze mount of this vase which is considerably smaller than the present example, is signed 'DULAC.MD.RÜE ST.HONNORÉ.INVENISTE (L. Roth and C. le Corbeiller, French Eighteenth-Century Porcelain et the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford 2000, p. 121). A similar signature occurs on a pair of pot-pourri vases of a somewhat more slender model than the present vase, but with similar mounts, that was delivered to the King of Poland around 1770 and is now at the Lazienki palace in Warsow (P. Verlet, Les bronzes dorés français du XVIIIee siècle , Paris 1987, pp. 72-73, figs. 66-67). The signatures refer to the marchand-galantier-parfumeur Jean Dulac (1704-1786), who was appointed marchand priviligié du Roi in 1753 and styled himself marchand bijoutier. The mention 'invenit' on two separate versions of these mounted vases leaves no doubt as to Dulac's rôle as their actual designer, an almost unique instance of a marchand proudly proclaiming his status as a creative artist.
THE 'VASES À SECRET'
In late 1765 or early 1766, Horace Walpole visited Dulac's shop and bought a set of three mounted blue Sèvres vases for his friend John Chute, two of which are still at his house, The Vyne in Hampshire (see Svend Eriksen, Early Neo-classicism in France, London 1974, p. 362, commentary to fig. 238). These are mounted with satyr heads and laurel swags, of a somewhat lighter design than the lions' heads and pelts on the present vases. The model with lions has always been thought to be slightly later and it certainly remained popular well into the 1780s. Before 1774 Madame du Barry acquired a blue pair which may those now at the Château de Fontainebleau but could equally be the ones formerly at the Chàteau d'Eu, sold in these rooms, 2 December 1997, Lot 40 (for the vases at Fontainebleau, see C. Baulez, 'Sèvres, Commandes et achats de Madame du Barry', L'Estampille/l'Objet d'art 257 (April 1992), pp. 51-52). As late as 1782, Grand Duke Paul and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna of Russia purchased a pair directly at the Sèvres factory, for the Palace of Pavlovsk where they are preserved today (A. de Gourcoff, Pavlovsk, The Collections, Vol. II, Saint Petersburg 1993, p. 150. Fig. 20). However, it has recently been established by Reinier Baarsen that Charles de Lorraine, Governor of the Austrian Netherlands, bought a pair of dark blue vases of the model with lions' heads and pop-up candelabra as early as December 1765, from the Brussels dealer Madame Janti. She described them in her bill as 'vases à secrets', the 'secrets' obviously referring to the amusing surprise of the candelabra that appear when they are opened. Clearly then, the versions with satyr and with lions' heads were designed at the same time, probably in 1765.
COMPARABLE EXAMPLES
Apart from the examples referred to above, several more pairs of vases of this model are known. They include:
-a dark blue pair from the Stroganoff collection in Saint Petersburg, sold from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Luigi Anton Laura, Sotheby's/Poulain Le Fur, Paris, 27 June 2001, Lot 76;
-a dark blue pair, having lost its candelabra, sold by the Marquess of Cholmondeley, 'Works of Art Houghton', Christie's, London, 8 December 1994, Lot 83, probably the ones sold previously Christie's London from the collection of H.M.W. Oppenheim Esq., Christie's London, 10 June 1913, Lot 76;
-a dark blue pair in the Huntington Library, San Marino (R. Wark, French Decorative Art in the Huntington Collection, San Marino 1961, no. 116);
-a dark blue pair, sold Christie's London, from the collection of the Earl of Stair, probably inherited from the Duc de Coigny, 6 April 1978, Lot 50; subsequently sold, Palais d'Orsay, Paris, 28 November 1978; and again, from the collection of Charles de Pauw, Sotheby's Monaco, 22 June 1986, Lot 617.
-a dark blue pair, possibly from the collection of Madame du Barry at the château de Louveciennes and in the collection of King Louis-Philippe at château d'Eu, which was sold, Christie's, London, 2 December 1997, lot 40.
-a green pair, sold Christie's London, from the collection of Lord Ashburton, 19 March 1964, Lot 59.
-a green pair, having lost their covers, from the collection of the Earl of Swinton, Christie's London, 4 December 1975, Lot 51.
As seen from these examples, green 'vases à secret' are rarer than dark blue ones. A pair of Sèvres vases at Waddesdon Manor with mounts with satyr masks - which seem not to have remained in fashion as long as the lion ones - is also green (S. Eriksen, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Sèvres Porcelain, Fribourg 1968, no. 81). This perhaps suggests that the green colour was mainly produced early on - as noted above, the very first example, at the Wadsworth Atheneum, again is green.
JEAN DULAC AS INVENTOR OF MOUNTED VASES
The first record at Sèvres of a 'vase a monter' occurs in the glaze kiln records for 1764, but they must have been in production slightly earlier. This is apparent from an example originally in the collection of Madame de Pompadour and described in the probate inventory taken upon her death in 1764. Of green Sèvres porcelain, it contains a reduction in silver of the equestrian statue of King Louis XV erected in the Place Royale in Paris in 1763; it must therefore have been made in 1763, or 1764 at the latest. Like the candelabrum originally in the present vase, the equestrian statue pops up when the vase is opened. The gilt bronze mount of this vase which is considerably smaller than the present example, is signed 'DULAC.M
THE 'VASES À SECRET'
In late 1765 or early 1766, Horace Walpole visited Dulac's shop and bought a set of three mounted blue Sèvres vases for his friend John Chute, two of which are still at his house, The Vyne in Hampshire (see Svend Eriksen, Early Neo-classicism in France, London 1974, p. 362, commentary to fig. 238). These are mounted with satyr heads and laurel swags, of a somewhat lighter design than the lions' heads and pelts on the present vases. The model with lions has always been thought to be slightly later and it certainly remained popular well into the 1780s. Before 1774 Madame du Barry acquired a blue pair which may those now at the Château de Fontainebleau but could equally be the ones formerly at the Chàteau d'Eu, sold in these rooms, 2 December 1997, Lot 40 (for the vases at Fontainebleau, see C. Baulez, 'Sèvres, Commandes et achats de Madame du Barry', L'Estampille/l'Objet d'art 257 (April 1992), pp. 51-52). As late as 1782, Grand Duke Paul and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna of Russia purchased a pair directly at the Sèvres factory, for the Palace of Pavlovsk where they are preserved today (A. de Gourcoff, Pavlovsk, The Collections, Vol. II, Saint Petersburg 1993, p. 150. Fig. 20). However, it has recently been established by Reinier Baarsen that Charles de Lorraine, Governor of the Austrian Netherlands, bought a pair of dark blue vases of the model with lions' heads and pop-up candelabra as early as December 1765, from the Brussels dealer Madame Janti. She described them in her bill as 'vases à secrets', the 'secrets' obviously referring to the amusing surprise of the candelabra that appear when they are opened. Clearly then, the versions with satyr and with lions' heads were designed at the same time, probably in 1765.
COMPARABLE EXAMPLES
Apart from the examples referred to above, several more pairs of vases of this model are known. They include:
-a dark blue pair from the Stroganoff collection in Saint Petersburg, sold from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Luigi Anton Laura, Sotheby's/Poulain Le Fur, Paris, 27 June 2001, Lot 76;
-a dark blue pair, having lost its candelabra, sold by the Marquess of Cholmondeley, 'Works of Art Houghton', Christie's, London, 8 December 1994, Lot 83, probably the ones sold previously Christie's London from the collection of H.M.W. Oppenheim Esq., Christie's London, 10 June 1913, Lot 76;
-a dark blue pair in the Huntington Library, San Marino (R. Wark, French Decorative Art in the Huntington Collection, San Marino 1961, no. 116);
-a dark blue pair, sold Christie's London, from the collection of the Earl of Stair, probably inherited from the Duc de Coigny, 6 April 1978, Lot 50; subsequently sold, Palais d'Orsay, Paris, 28 November 1978; and again, from the collection of Charles de Pauw, Sotheby's Monaco, 22 June 1986, Lot 617.
-a dark blue pair, possibly from the collection of Madame du Barry at the château de Louveciennes and in the collection of King Louis-Philippe at château d'Eu, which was sold, Christie's, London, 2 December 1997, lot 40.
-a green pair, sold Christie's London, from the collection of Lord Ashburton, 19 March 1964, Lot 59.
-a green pair, having lost their covers, from the collection of the Earl of Swinton, Christie's London, 4 December 1975, Lot 51.
As seen from these examples, green 'vases à secret' are rarer than dark blue ones. A pair of Sèvres vases at Waddesdon Manor with mounts with satyr masks - which seem not to have remained in fashion as long as the lion ones - is also green (S. Eriksen, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Sèvres Porcelain, Fribourg 1968, no. 81). This perhaps suggests that the green colour was mainly produced early on - as noted above, the very first example, at the Wadsworth Atheneum, again is green.