During a recent visit to the Walter's Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland I saw the vases above, part of the famous "jeweled"
Sèvres collection ordered by Louis XVI. According to the Walter's website:
Between 1778 and 1782, Sèvres manufactured for Louis XVI a series of vases with handles shaped as busts of infants, young women, and old men, hence the name "vases des âges." The Walters' examples, with the infants and a "bleu nouveau" ground color, bear classical scenes and an additional decoration of "jewels" composed of enamel drops over gold foil.
The classical scenes are derived from an illustrated edition of Télémaque, a romance set in antiquity written by Fénélon in 1699. These vases show Telemachus, the son of Ulysses, winning a chariot race and Minerva, disguised as an old man, persuading Telemachus to participate in a war against the Dauniens. These vases were designed by Jacques-François Deparis. The painting was by Antoine Caton, the gilding by Etienne-Henry Le Guay, and the jewels by Philippe Parpette.
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5 comments:
LOL, I often envision EM swathed in about 50 yards of (moray?[sp?], perched on a setee(sp?), sipping her morning joe from a sevres cup - a la Glen Close in 'Liasons'.
Not quite the reality but I would never spoil your illusion.
In this utilitarian society we live in, thankfully the art from past cultures has been preserved in order to lift us from the mundane. God Bless Henry Walters and others like him who used their resources to collect these objects which we can all enjoy.
I lived a block away from the Walters for years and use to go all the time to see the 18th century collection. I love 18th century jeweled Sèvres porcelain. I have had a few 19th century Paris porcelain copy's of 18th century jeweled Sèvres.
The vast sales of the treasures of Versailles by the First French Republic ensured all these masterpieces would leave France forever. The Sevres vases are beautiful and show King Louis XVI's great taste and support for Sevres. I would have loved to have seen this whole series of handled vases in their original rooms at Versailles. We can "thank" the republic for ensuring that will never happen.
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