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Sauce boat in the form of two boats accompanied by two spoons: C.16 & A & B-1948

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Object information

Current Location: Gallery 26 (Lower Marlay)

Titles

Sauce boat in the form of two boats accompanied by two spoons

Maker(s)

Factory: Mennecy Porcelain Manufactory (Perhaps)
Factory: Bourg-la-Reine Porcelain Manufactory (Perhaps)
Factory: Chantilly Porcelain Manufactory (Probably)

Entities

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain container for condiments in the form of two boats, with a white glaze, accompanied by two spoons.

Soft-paste porcelain, moulded, and covered with white, slightly opacified glaze, except for an irregular strip on each base. In the shape of two blunt-nosed boats with rudders, joined along one side. The stern end of each boat is covered and on one there is a seated monk with his cowell drawn back to reveal his tonsure, and on the other a seated woman, probably a nun, with her hands in a muff. The spoons (A & B) have an oval leaf-shaped bowl, moulded on the back with veins and two small leaves branching from the branch which forms the handle. The latter curves upwards slightly and is cut off diagonally at the upper end, so that it resembles a pointed ear.

Notes

History note: Uncertain before donor, Louis C.G. Clarke, MA, Cambridge

Legal notes

Given by L.C.G. Clarke, MA

Measurements and weight

Height: 7.2 cm
Length: 13 cm
Width: 8.8 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Mennecy ⪼ France
  • Bourg-la-Reine ⪼ France
  • Chantilly ⪼ France

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1948-10) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray

Dating

18th Century, Mid
Louis XV
Circa 1750 CE - 1773 CE

Note

The attribution is uncertain. The object was accessioned as Mennecy, but an unidentified note on its catalogue slip noted that the terminals of the spoons resembled that with a covered bowl and stand in the Victoria and Albert Museum, marked 'B R' and attributed to Bourg-la-Reine. See Documentation, Honey, 1950. The slightly opacified glaze, may indicate the presence of tin-oxide, in which case, it may have been made at Chantilly, to which examples in the MaryLou Boone Collection, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and another with two spoons, formerly in the collection of Lady Cynthia Postan have been attributed and dated about 1750-55. See Documentation, 2004 and 2015.

The object was accessioned as a sauce boat. It has been suggested that it could have beeen used for condiments such as pepper, but spooning out pepper even in this small spoon would surely have resulted in sneezing? Salt seems more likely or small portions of sauce.

School or Style

Rococo

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Spoon Bq Length 14.9 cm
Spoon A Length 15 cm

Materials used in production

possibly containing tin-oxide, and omitting a strip down the centre of each base Lead-glaze
Soft-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Moulding : Soft-paste porcelain, moulded and covered with white, slightly opacified glaze, except for an irregular strip down the centre of each base
Lead-glazing

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.16 & A & B-1948
Primary reference Number: 82393
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 5 January 2021 Last processed: Wednesday 13 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Sauce boat in the form of two boats accompanied by two spoons" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/82393 Accessed: 2024-04-24 05:56:41

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/82393 |title=Sauce boat in the form of two boats accompanied by two spoons |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-24 05:56:41|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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