The shape of the vase was modeled by Jean-Claude Duplessis the Elder (1699-1774). The Sèvres manufactory’s archives retained the plaster model produced during the late 19th century by Albert Troude (pl 114) [1] under the name of plain German vase. This name does not appear in the Sèvres Manufactory’s sale records and inventory during the 18th century and it is possible that the term cassolette was designated to describe this form during the 18th century. The inventory dated 1 January 1774 mentions 1 green cassolette vase with children priced at 432 livres [2]. This vase in their store in 1774 is perhaps one of the two perfume burners from a pair with a green ground, decorated with cupids and landscapes after Boucher, in the Wallace Collection in London and dated 1765 [3]. Few examples of this shape are known and a second pair of perfume burners with a celestial blue ground dated 1773 and decorated with landscapes and flowers, were in the former Oscar Düsendschön Collection in Geneva [4], a third pair with a celestial blue ground with a seascapes [5 ] and a fourth pair with blue nouveau ground decorated with cupids on clouds and entwined floral wreaths, are also listed. 

HAREWOOD HOUSE

The Sèvres porcelain collection at Harewood House was amassed by Edward, Viscount Lascelles (1764-1814), son of Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood and Anne Chaloner, who died without descendants at the age of 50, on 3 June 1814.

He bought his Sèvres porcelains in Paris after the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, but also in London during the auction of the Countess of Holderness Collection at Christie's on 26 February 1812, where he purchased lot 20: ' a Pair of singularly elegant Couvettes, Seve Porcelaine, with high finished painting (Geoffrey de Bellaigue, French Porcelain in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, 2009, vol I, no. 7, p.111, note 1). His collection was probably also enriched by porcelain gifts offered by George IV with whom he shared his passion for French porcelain, as evidenced by the two pairs of à tombeau vases with blue ground and birds that had belonged to Madame du Barry and today dispersed between the British Royal Collection and Harewood House (Geoffrey de Bellaigue, op.cit., vol I, no. 9, pp. 115-117).

The two perfume burners appear in several inventories, including one drawn up at Harewood House around 1892: "A pair of cassolette shaped Sèvres vases and covers on loose stands, blue-du-roi ground with gilding; in front panel painted with Boucher subjects of two figures in a garden, on the reverse flowers. One cover in Worcester china made to match. Height 9 in.". At that date, the inventory already mentions the replacement of the cover, probably made a few years earlier by the Worcester manufactory.

In 1922, Princess Mary (1897-1965) daughter of King George V (1865-1936), married the 6th Earl of Harewood . Shortly after Princess Mary’s death, part of the Vincennes-Sèvres porcelain collection was entrusted by the 7th Earl of Harewood (1923-2011) to Christie's for an exceptional auction in London on 1 July 1965. For the Louvre Museum, this sale was an opportunity to greatly enrich the decorative arts department with Sèvres vases. Some Sèvres vases from Harewood have recently resurfaced at auctions: a garniture of three à tombeau flower vases sold Sotheby's Paris, 9 November 2010, lot 198).

In January 1965, Hugh Tait illustrated the two vases in one of his articles devoted to  Sèvres porcelain masterpieces from the 7th Earl of Harewood’s collection. The reserve decor was then attributed to Charles-Nicolas Dodin (1734-1803). One of our vases was also published by Marcelle Brunet and Tamara Préaud to illustrate the production of "plain German" form in their work titled Sèvres des origines à nos jours, (... from its origin to our era) 1978, p. 167, notice 130.

 [1] Albert Troude, Choix de Modèles de la Manufacture Nationale de Porcelaines de Sèvres appartenant au Musée céramique, Paris, s.d. (1897). Sèvres-Cité de la Céramique, Archives Manufacture, Inv. de 1814 : 1740-1780 §1 n° 147.

 [2] Sèvres, Cité de la Céramique, Archives Manufacture, I 8.

 [3] Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection, catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, 1988 vol. In° C276-7, pp. 263-266)

 [4] Vente Sotheby & Co, Londres, le 6 décembre 1960, lot 66, repr.

 [5] Ancienne collection Henry Ford II, Sotheby’s New York, le 25 février 1978, lot 42.