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Gobelet Hébert et Soucoupe: C.34 & A-1961

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Object information

Current Location: Gallery 26 (Lower Marlay)

Titles

Gobelet Hébert et Soucoupe

Maker(s)

Factory: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Painter: Taillandier, Vincent

Entities

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain cup and saucer, painted in enamels with sprays of flowers, and gilded.

Soft-paste porcelain decorated with green ground colour, painting in blue, green, yellow, dark pink, red, and purple enamels, and gilded. The cup has a double-curved outline and entwined branch handle. The saucer is circular with a five-lobed edge, concave curving sides and a slight well in the centre. There is a hole for suspension in the footring of the saucer. The upper part of the cup and the outer part of the interior of the saucer have green grounds divided from the white lower and inner parts by trailing sprays of gold foliage and flowers, forming a wave pattern. Below, or within, in the arcs formed by the dips in the waves, are sprays of polychrome flowers. There are bands of gilding round the foot of the cup and of the saucer and dentilated bands round the lip of the cup, the outer edge of the saucer and the edge of the well. The leaf terminals of the handle are gilded, and there are two broad patches of gilding on the handle itself.

Notes

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

Legal notes

L.C.G. Clarke Bequest, 1960

Place(s) associated

  • Sèvres ⪼ France

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1960) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray

Dating

18th Century, Mid#
Louis XV
Circa 1756 CE - 1757 CE

Note

This pear-shaped cup with a lobed saucer was probably named after Thomas-Joachim Hébert (1713/14 -74), a marchand-mercier in the rue Saint Honoré, or the secretaire du roi, Hébert. It was made in three sizes with a plain or cinquefoil-shaped saucer. This is the second size. The form had been introduced by October 1752, when ‘7 Gobelets hébert’ and ‘4 Soucoupes Id[em]’were included in a list of biscuit objects awaiting glazing at the beginning of the biscuit firing register. (Bibl. Institute de France, MS 5673 ) The third size followed in 1754. For the association of this type of cup with the name 'gobelet Hébert' see Eriksen, 1968 (see documentation). This form and pattern are more common with a bleu céleste than a green ground, which was not introduced until 1756, probably not until the autumn. The sales register for 1756 (Vy1 and Vy2) mentions numerous 'gobelet Hébert' described as' bleu céleste et guirlandes', which may have described this pattern. Given the date of the introduction of green grounds it seems likely that this cup and saucer could have been made in 1756 or the early part of 1757.

School or Style

Rococo

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamels ( blue, green, yellow, dark pink, red, and purple enamels) gold
Saucer Diameter 13.1 cm Height 2.5 cm
Cup Rim Diameter 7.4 cm
Cup Height 6 cm
Cup Including Handle Width 9.5 cm

Materials used in production

presumed lead-glaze Lead-glaze
Soft-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Moulding : Soft-paste porcelain decorated overglaze with green ground colour, painting in blue, green, yellow, pink, red, and pale purple enamels, and gilding
Lead-glazing

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: interlaced Ls enclosing D
  • Location: On base of cup and saucer
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Factory mark

Inscription present: a fleur-de-lis

  • Location: On base of cup and saucer, below factory mark
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Painter's mark

Inscription present: a square

  • Location: On base of cup
  • Method of creation: Incised
  • Type: Incised mark
  • Text: 6c
  • Location: On base of saucer to right of suspension hole
  • Method of creation: Incised
  • Type: Incised mark

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.34 & A-1961
Primary reference Number: 93570
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 12 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) "Gobelet Hébert et Soucoupe" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/93570 Accessed: 2024-12-18 13:56:10

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/93570 |title=Gobelet Hébert et Soucoupe |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-18 13:56:10|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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