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Gobelet Calabre et soucoupe: C.39 & A-1961

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Object information

Current Location: Gallery 26 (Lower Marlay)

Titles

Gobelet Calabre et soucoupe

Maker(s)

Factory: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Painter: Bouilliat, Edme-François (Possibly)
Censier, Charles (Possibly)

Entities

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain cup and saucer, decorated with a bleu céleste ground, and reserves painted in enamels with landscapes, and gilding

Soft-paste porcelain decorated with a bleu céleste ground, painting in blue, several shades of green, yellow, greyish-pink, a little red, and several shades of brown enamels, and gilding. The cup curves upwards and outwards from the footring and almost vertically up to the rim, and has a loop handle. The saucer has deep curved sides, and a suspension hole in the footring. Both pieces have a bleu céleste ground with an almost heart-shaped reserve on the cup and a circular reserve on the saucer, each framed by elaborate gilding comprising rococo scrolls, and sprays of flowers and foliage. The reserve on the cup is painted with a landscape in which a man carrying a fishing rod is walking beside a stream. The reserve on the saucer is painted with a view of a river, spanned by a bridge, on the right-hand side of which is a large tree and some buildings including a tower. On the left there is a steep hill with buildings on the top. There is a band of gilding round the foot of the cup and dentilated bands round the rims of both cup and saucer. The handle has sprays of three oak leaves sprouting from its junction with the cup, lines down the sides, and on its back, three stylized leaf or flower motifs separated by spots and three smaller spots below.

Notes

History note: Acquired by the testator before October 1948

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
Production date: AD 1768 : date letter for 1768

Note

The Calabre forms were named after Pierre Calabre, a shareholder in the Charles Adam and Eloi Brichard Companies, and écuyer, conseiller secrétaire du roi, maison couronne de France et de ses finances. (See Documentation, Saville, 1988, III), The gobelet Calabre was introduced before October 1752, and two sizes of cup, and three of saucers was recorded in 1753. A drawing showing two sizes of the cup and saucer is in the factory's archive at Sèvres. The cup could have almost straight sides, as here, or could flare slightly towards the rim.This is a gobelet Calabre of the first size, although the saucer is a little larger than the size given by Savill (see Documentation). The landscapes in the reserves are reminiscent of Boucher’s landscapes, such as his Première Vue de Charenton, engraved in 1747 by J.P. Le Bas, or Second Vue des Environs de Charenton, also engraved by Le Bas in 1747.

The incised cs mark also occurs on Tray, C.41B-1961 and on Jug, C.20.2-1961. It is attributed by Eriksen and Savill (see documentation) to members of the Censier family. Taking the date into consideration, the likely person was Charles Censier, fils jeune, working 1758-75. The incised mark o is relatively common. It appears on Cups MAR.C.35-1912 and MAR.C.36-1912 and Teapot C.22 & A-1961, as well as a piece from the Frick Collection and a number of pieces from the Wrightsman Collection (see documentation).

The mark y usually situated away from the factory mark was used, at the time of manufacture of this cup and saucer, by Edme-François Bouillat, père who worked at Sèvres from 1758 until the year of his death in 1810. Initially specializing in flowers, his work became more diverse later in his career, including flowers in vases, and garden landscapes. The 'y' also occurs on pieces prior to 1758, (see Documentation Porcelaines de Vincennes Catalogue).

School or Style

Rococo

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Decoration composed of ground colour ( bleu céleste) enamels ( blue, several shades of green, yellow, greyish-pink, a little red, and several shades of brown) gold
Saucer Diameter 15.8 cm Height 3.8 cm
Cup Rim Diameter 7.4 cm
Cup Height 8.1 cm
Cup Including Handle Width 10 cm
Ground

Materials used in production

presumed lead-glaze Lead-glaze
Soft-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Moulding : Soft-paste porcelain, decorated with a bleu céleste ground, reserves painted overglaze in blue, several shades of green, yellow, greyish-pink, a little red, and several shades of brown enamel, and gilding
Lead-glazing

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: interlaced L's enclosing P

  • Location: On the base of the saucer and remnants on cup
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Factory mark
  • Text: y
  • Location: On the base of the cup, by the footring
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Painter's mark
  • Text: cs
  • Location: On the base of the cup
  • Method of creation: Incised
  • Type: Incised mark
  • Text: o
  • Location: On the base of the saucer
  • Method of creation: Incised
  • Type: Incised mark

Inscription present: rectangular white paper label with cut corners, now discoloured

  • Text: cd/-/-/C.2237/48.0.0 (crossed out)/C & S
  • Location: On base of saucer
  • Method of creation: Hand-written in black ink
  • Type: Label

Inscription present: rectangular white paper label

  • Text: SEVRES printed and 1768 handwritten
  • Location: On base of saucer
  • Method of creation: Printed in black and hand-written in faded black ink
  • Type: Label

Inscription present: circular white paper label

  • Text: Lent by/Louis C.G. Clarke/March 1948. in red ink and 8 in black ink below
  • Location: On base of cup
  • Method of creation: Hand-written in red ink and black ink
  • Type: Label

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.39 & A-1961
Primary reference Number: 93577
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 Calabre et soucoupe" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/93577 Accessed: 2024-04-19 16:50:22

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/93577 |title=Gobelet Calabre et soucoupe |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-19 16:50:22|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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