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Lot Essay
Sèvres water jugs and basins were used as part of the ritual of the toilette and in the garde robe. They were displayed on the dressing table, like their counterparts in precious metals, which were usually part of a larger toilet service. The jugs and basins were usually sold individually as sets and used to wash the hands during the lengthy toilette during which food was consumed. See Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, London, 1988, Vol. II, pp. 691-718, the chapter 'For bedroom, cabinet and boudoir...' which places these personal items within the cultural context of the time.
By 1752 Vincennes was producing matching jugs and basins that were intended to compete with those being made at the Meissen manufactory, at other French porcelain factories, in faience and occasionally in rock crystal. During the 1750s a variety of different shapes were produced in different sizes. This form of basin is examined by Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, London, 1988, Vol. II, pp. 700-1, in relation to a ewer and basin from the Wallace Collection, pp. 705-8, no. C452-3. This bleu lapis-ground example with cherub reserves was sent by Louis XV to the Empress Maria-Theresa of Austria in 1758 and at 840 livres was the most expensive example produced in the 1750s. Another basin of similar shape with the date letter A and a dark blue ground is in the C.L. David Collection in Copenhagen, see Svend Eriksen and Geoffrey de Bellaigue, Sèvres Porcelain, Vincennes and Sèvres 1740-1840, London, 1987, pp. 282-282. This form of basin was most often accompanied by a jug named 'Broc Roussel'. Another with a dark blue ground with date letter A is in the Musée des Arts décoratifs, see Tamara Préaud and Antoine d'Albis, Le Porcelaine de Vincennes, Paris, 1991, p. 179, no. 192. A pink-ground example with date letter E is in the Markus Collection, see Vivian S. Hawes and Christina S. Corsiglia, The Rita & Frits Markus Collection of European Ceramics and Enamels, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1984, pp. 184-188, no. 64.
A Vincennes bleu céleste-ground ewer and basin of this form dating to circa 1755 were sold in these Rooms on 7 June 2011, lot 93.
By 1752 Vincennes was producing matching jugs and basins that were intended to compete with those being made at the Meissen manufactory, at other French porcelain factories, in faience and occasionally in rock crystal. During the 1750s a variety of different shapes were produced in different sizes. This form of basin is examined by Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, London, 1988, Vol. II, pp. 700-1, in relation to a ewer and basin from the Wallace Collection, pp. 705-8, no. C452-3. This bleu lapis-ground example with cherub reserves was sent by Louis XV to the Empress Maria-Theresa of Austria in 1758 and at 840 livres was the most expensive example produced in the 1750s. Another basin of similar shape with the date letter A and a dark blue ground is in the C.L. David Collection in Copenhagen, see Svend Eriksen and Geoffrey de Bellaigue, Sèvres Porcelain, Vincennes and Sèvres 1740-1840, London, 1987, pp. 282-282. This form of basin was most often accompanied by a jug named 'Broc Roussel'. Another with a dark blue ground with date letter A is in the Musée des Arts décoratifs, see Tamara Préaud and Antoine d'Albis, Le Porcelaine de Vincennes, Paris, 1991, p. 179, no. 192. A pink-ground example with date letter E is in the Markus Collection, see Vivian S. Hawes and Christina S. Corsiglia, The Rita & Frits Markus Collection of European Ceramics and Enamels, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1984, pp. 184-188, no. 64.
A Vincennes bleu céleste-ground ewer and basin of this form dating to circa 1755 were sold in these Rooms on 7 June 2011, lot 93.