For a few years only, the blue and gold decoration on the present lot was produced at the Vincennes porcelain factory in the early 1750s, and since few examples have survived until today, these pair of urns now mounted as pots-pourris are a superb testament to this time. These pots-pourris are not only an exciting example of the fashion among marchands-merciers in the mid-18th century for mounting porcelain, but they are also part of a rarified group of Vincennes porcelain vases called ‘urnes Pompadour’, here painted with a ‘bleu lapis’ ground and gilded birds.
Novelty and Luxury
These pots-pourris combin enovelty and luxurious decoration, and are a celebration of recent technical developments at the Vincennes manufactory: that of a purer, whiter porcelain paste and the successful firing of gold on porcelain. Produced in imitation of Chinese porcelain, these are decorated with an early form of underglaze ‘bleu lapis’ (after the semi-precious hardstone, lapis lazuli) ground colour, the first real ground colour put into production at Vincennes circa 1751, a few years before the factory was moved to Sèvres. The striking contrast of the dark blue ground and the white of the undecorated sections of porcelain would have been intended to celebrate the achievement of both the manufactory’s newly developed ground colour and the purity of the white porcelain paste. The gilding around the edge of the ground has been tooled to give added depth and relief and was intended to conceal the fact that the blue ground had 'bled' into the white reserves. Considered a flaw at the time, this characteristic is now regarded as the hallmark of the most desirable early ground-decorated Vincennes. Other tableware including sugar pots, chamber pots, cups and saucers in a similar blue and gilt decoration with birds are illustrated in Tamara Préaud, La porcelaine de Vincennes, 1991, pp.160-162.
The decoration for these wares was influenced by one of the most talented painters at Vincennes and Sèvres, Louis-Denis Armand l’Ainé (active 1746-88), who specialised in painting birds and landscapes. One of his drawings (ill. Joanna Gwilt, Vincennes and early Sèvres porcelain from the Belvedere Collection, p. 31, fig.18) illustrates the delicacy and detailing of these types of depictions at the time. The elaborate and intricate scroll-like motifs are reminiscent of the gilded patterns on these pots-pourris.
‘Urne Pompadour’
The shape for these pots pourris is traditionally referred as ‘urne Pompadour’, after the Marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764) who was probably the most important patron of Vincennes porcelain; it was designed to be a slightly different version of the ‘pot-pourri Pompadour’ produced with pierced holes in the shoulder and cover. This form (classified as ‘shape B’ in Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Sèvres Collection, 1988, vol. 1, pp.127-129) seem to have existed in four sizes (or ‘grandeurs’), with the most popular decorative scheme being ‘bleu lapis’ and gold: the fourth thought to be about 23cm high with the cover. And it is known to have been in production at least as early as late 1751 or early 1752, on the evidence of a vase of the fourth size sold for 120 livres to the marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux in March 1753 and fired in the 68th enamel firing (summer of 1752).
Right: One urn lacking its cover from the Belvedere Collection, circa 1752-3
Many of the few ‘urnes Pompadour’ sold by the Manufacture de Vincennes between 1752 and 1754 were bought by Duvaux and the marchand-mercier Jean-Jacques Machard, costing on average between 120 or 180 livres for the fourth size (see Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Sèvres Collection, 1988, vol. 1, pp.127-129). Similar examples of these urns are recorded: one of the fourth size lacking its cover in the Belvedere Collection (ill. Joanna Gwilt, Vincennes and early Sèvres porcelain from the Belvedere Collection, p. 177, cat.113) another of the fourth size at Upton House in Warwickshire with a scene with birds identical to that found on of the vases (though with a vase issuing flowers, nr. NT 446318) and one of the fourth size at the British Museum (inv. Franks.377).