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Lot Essay
This rare teapot is among a small group of Vezzi octagonal teapots that take their inspiration from contemporary silver shapes. The present example is distinguished by a moulded swag of drapery at the base of the spout, which appears on only one other published example, illustrated by Luca Melegati, Giovanni Vezzi e le sue porzellane, Milan, 1998, p. 210, no. 79.
The Vezzi factory in Venice was the second factory in Europe (after du Paquier) to follow the lead of Meissen in producing true hard-paste porcelain. It was founded by Giovanni Vezzi (1686-1746), a nobleman, whose father Franceso Vezzi, granted him the funding to build a porcelain manufactory. Production began in 1720 after Giovanni managed to tempt skilled technicians, mostly from the du Paquier manufactory in Vienna, to come to Venice to assist him in setting up the factory. These included Christoph Conrad Hunger from du Paquier, who is listed in 1720 as a partner in the new factory, but who broke off his association with the Vezzis in 1724 and left Venice in 1727. Thanks to this early instance of industrial espionage, for a few years the Vezzi factory produced a range of tea, coffee and other decorative wares using clay found in the Veneto region. These are notable for their bold shapes, influenced by the baroque forms developed at Meissen and Vienna. In 1727 the factory was forced to close due to financial difficulties, and as the production spanned only a few years pieces of Vezzi porcelain are rare.
Four octagonal leaf-moulded teapots and covers, which are of closely related but not of identical form and with different decoration, are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. One of these (C121-1930) has an incised Cf mark similar to the present lot, and is illustrated with two of the four by Francesco Stazzi, Porcellane della casa Eccellentissima Vezzi 1720-1727, Milan, 1967, pls. LXXXV, LXXXVII and LXXXIX. An octagonal teabowl and cover with similar flower decoration is in the Lokar Collection and is illustrated by Andreina d'Agliano ed., Italian Porcelain in the Lokar Collection, Milan, 2013, p. 51, no. 22, and a similar octagonal flower-decorated teapot and cover is illustrated by Luca Melegati, ibid., Milan, 1998, p. 88, no. 20.
The Vezzi factory in Venice was the second factory in Europe (after du Paquier) to follow the lead of Meissen in producing true hard-paste porcelain. It was founded by Giovanni Vezzi (1686-1746), a nobleman, whose father Franceso Vezzi, granted him the funding to build a porcelain manufactory. Production began in 1720 after Giovanni managed to tempt skilled technicians, mostly from the du Paquier manufactory in Vienna, to come to Venice to assist him in setting up the factory. These included Christoph Conrad Hunger from du Paquier, who is listed in 1720 as a partner in the new factory, but who broke off his association with the Vezzis in 1724 and left Venice in 1727. Thanks to this early instance of industrial espionage, for a few years the Vezzi factory produced a range of tea, coffee and other decorative wares using clay found in the Veneto region. These are notable for their bold shapes, influenced by the baroque forms developed at Meissen and Vienna. In 1727 the factory was forced to close due to financial difficulties, and as the production spanned only a few years pieces of Vezzi porcelain are rare.
Four octagonal leaf-moulded teapots and covers, which are of closely related but not of identical form and with different decoration, are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. One of these (C121-1930) has an incised Cf mark similar to the present lot, and is illustrated with two of the four by Francesco Stazzi, Porcellane della casa Eccellentissima Vezzi 1720-1727, Milan, 1967, pls. LXXXV, LXXXVII and LXXXIX. An octagonal teabowl and cover with similar flower decoration is in the Lokar Collection and is illustrated by Andreina d'Agliano ed., Italian Porcelain in the Lokar Collection, Milan, 2013, p. 51, no. 22, and a similar octagonal flower-decorated teapot and cover is illustrated by Luca Melegati, ibid., Milan, 1998, p. 88, no. 20.