A SÈVRES COVERED BOWL AND STAND (ÉCUELLE ROND TOURNÉE ET PLATEAU OVALE), OF THE SECOND SIZE

A SEVRES COVERED BOWL AND STAND (ECUELLE RONDE TOURNEE ET PLATEAU OVALE), OF THE SECOND SIZE

The stand and bowl with interlaced Ls, date letter m for 1765
Painter’s mark of a cross for Jacques-François Micaud, Micaud père
Incised JC to stand and DU to bowl
The stand 18.3 cm wide, the bowl 15.1 across the handles, 11.0 cm high with cover

Ecuelles, or broth bowls, were made in different sizes, it is unclear if this is of the second or third size, the height and the size of the stand suggest the second size. For a detailed discussion of sizes see Savill 1988, vol II, pp. 643-648.

Ecuelles were not part of dinner or desert services, and their designs rarely repeat,  but were for intimate dining typically at the toilette and were sometimes given as gifts to women after childbirth.

Sèvres Porcelain with Textile Decoration
The known pieces of Sèvres with depictions of textiles document a brief moment, between 1765 and 1766, when accurately depicted woven silks of Lyon were painted on Sèvres porcelain. The Lyonnais silk industry rivalled Sèvres itself in luxury and the splendour of dress was one of the most expensive and visible representations of court society. Such textiles were also ordered by the Garde Meuble for the decoration of the royal apartments at Versailles.

The designs are mostly painted by Jacques-François Micaud, Micaud père, and are notable for using the most up-to-date and richest silk designs whilst making little concession to the form of the vessels.

Catrin Jones published a number of these pieces in her paper, Painted Luxury: Textile Imitations as Decoration on Sevres Porcelain, Journal of the French Porcelain Society, vol. V, 2015, in which she noted that the duchesse de Mazarin and the daughters of Louis XV Mesdames Adélaïde, Victoire and Sophie were recorded buying gobelet et soucoupe ‘Etoff’ in the 1770s.

Lesley Ellis Miller has published a merchant’s sample book, confiscated by a British Customs agent in 1764, containing hundreds of silk samples, which is preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum. This shows what designs were fashionable at that moment and some correspond closely to those on Sèvres.

Condition:
No restoration, slight wear to the gilding

Provenance:
Private Collection

Literature:
Catrin Jones, ‘Painted Luxury: Textile Imitations as Decoration on Sèvres Porcelain’, Journal of the French Porcelain Society, vol. V, 2015, p. 183, figs. 4 & 4a

References:
Rosalind Savill, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, London 1988, vol II, pp. 643-648

Exhibited:
‘Early French Soft Paste Porcelain’, E&H Manners February 2021, no 45

Price: £12,000