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Gobelet litron et soucoupe
Factory:
Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Painter:
Castel, Philippe
Gilder:
Le Guay, Etienne-Henry
(Uncertain)
Soft-paste porcelain cup and saucer, each decorated with a dark blue ground, rserves painted in enamels with an exotic bird, and gilding.
Soft-paste porcelain, decorated overglaze with a beau bleu ground, painting in purplish-blue, yellowish green, yellow ochre, red, brown, and black enamels, and gilding Cylindrical cup with double curved handle. Circular saucer with flat central area, deep, sloping sides. There is a suspension hole in the footring of the saucer. The cup has a beau bleu ground elaborately gilded on each side with back to back rinceaux, garlands, sprays of leaves and two birds. On the front there is an almost circular reserve, framed by a wide tooled gold band and a narrow plain gold band, and painted in polychrome with an exotic bird, standing amid trees. There are bands of gilding round the foot and rim, lines of gilding down the sides of the handle and a stylised leaf, husks and dots down its back. The base is inscribed in pale blue enamel with the name of the bird, 'Faisan couronne des Indes'. The saucer also has a beau bleu ground decorated with six pairs of rinceau, garlands and sprays of leaves. In the centre there is a circular reserve, framed by a wide chased gilt band and a narrow plain gilt band, and painted in polychrome with an exotic bird,standing on a fallen, sprouting branch, with trees in the background. There are bands of gilding round the rim and outside lower edge. The base is inscribed in pale blue enamel with the name of the bird, 'Le Mâle, appelle le Pape'.
History note: Earl of Balfour KG, PC ? second Earl (1853-1945) ?; acquired before October 1948 by Louis C.G. Clarke, MA, Leckhampton, Cambridge, by whom bequeathed
L.C.G. Clarke Bequest, 1960
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1960) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray
18th Century, Late
Louis XVI
Circa
1784
CE
-
Circa
1794
CE
Both the birds were painted after engraved and coloured plates by F.-N. Martinot which accompanied both the quarto and folio editions of the comte de Buffon’s 'Histoire naturelle des oiseaux', 1771-83 and 1771-86 respectively.: the Faisan couronne des Indes, from Vol. II (vol. XXIV) 1776, pl. 118, and the Le Mâle, appelle le Pape from vol. IV (vol. XXVI), 1778, pl. 159, fig. 2. (The volume nos and text of the two editions differ, but the plate numbers are the same for both).
The gobelet litron was named after a cylindrical measure, usually wooden, for dry goods such as corn and flour. It was introduced at Vincennes before October 1752 when mentioned in the stock inventory and was in production in three sizes in 1753. This is a gobelet litron and soucoupe of the first and largest size, with Savill's handle shape B, and tooling on gilding no. 72. See Documentation.
Decoration
composed of
ground colour
( bleu nouveau or beau bleu)
enamels
( purplish-blue, yellowish green, yellow ochre, red, brown, and black)
gold
Saucer
Diameter 14.6 cm
Height 3.8 cm
Cup Rim
Diameter 7.2 cm
Cup
Height 7.5 cm
Cup Including Handle
Width 9.7 cm
presumed lead-glaze
Lead-glaze
Soft-paste porcelain
Moulding
: Soft-paste porcelain painted in enamels, and gilded.
Lead-glazing
Inscription present: interlaced L's enclosing qq
Inscription present: in script capitals
Inscription present: the u was missed out and has been written above the r of coronne with a short dash over it
Inscription present: rectangular white paper label now buff
Inscription present: rectangular white paper label, now buff; date crossed out
Accession number: C.64 & A-1961
Primary reference Number: 93767
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
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IIIF Manifest
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Gobelet litron et soucoupe" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/93767 Accessed: 2024-11-18 00:45:24
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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/93767
|title=Gobelet litron et soucoupe
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-18 00:45:24|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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