A Sèvres Porcelain Revolutionary Cup and Saucer, circa 1793-94
Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
A Sèvres Porcelain Revolutionary Cup and Saucer, circa 1793-94
the cup with an oval medallion on either side, one painted with a masonic triangle tied surmounted with a phrygian cap with tricolor rosette, the other with three entwined laurel wreaths, the saucer with three medallions of further symbolic imagery, including phrygian cap with tricolor rosette, a masonic triangle, and a fasces, alternating with diamond lozenges of gilt flowers, reserved by a blue-ground enriched by gilt garlands, with bands of laurel wreaths entwined with tricolor ribbons, gilt rims, script Sevres marks in blue over R-F for République Française, initials RR for the year II (from September 1793 to September 1794), painter's mark P for Guillaume Buteux (active at Sèvres between 1782-1794), painter and gilder's mark IN for Jean Chavaux, le jeune (active at Sèvres between 1764-1800), indistinct incised numeral to cup, incised numeral 46 to saucer
diameter of saucer 5 in.
12.8 cm
Pierre and Jeanne Hintermeyer Collection, Thierry de Maigret, Paris, 25 June, 2021, lot 173;
Where acquired by the present collector.
On 6 October 1789, the workers of the Sèvres manufactory witnessed an extraordinary spectacle: Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and the french royal family passing through the town of Sèvres under escort as they were compelled to leave Versailles for the last time and head for Paris.
Deprived of much of its aristocratic clientele, the manufactory endured considerable hardship brought on by the revolution. Sèvres nevertheless continued production, although wages were often reduced or went unpaid. The factory remained royal property until the establishment of the Republic in August 1792, when it passed under state control. In 1793, the Minister of the Interior, Dominique-Joseph Garat, ordered the destruction of moulds and models associated with the monarchy. The factory's director, Antoine Régnier, assigned seven workers to carry out the task, systematically dismantling works bearing overt royal associations. At the same time, the celebrated interlaced L mark was replaced by RF (République Française), sometimes accompanied by the name Sèvres. During the Revolutionary period, the manufactory became an important vehicle for the dissemination of civic and republican ideals. Étienne-Maurice Falconet's graceful L'Éducation de l'Amour gave way to subjects such as L'Éducation du Citoyen, La France gardant sa Constitution, and La Liberté et l'Égalité, modelled by Louis-Simon Boizot. Charles-Nicolas Dodin likewise produced painted allegories celebrating the new political order.
As demonstrated by the lot, Revolutionary iconography quickly entered the painters' repertoire, with tricolour ribbons reflecting the new political order. The bonnet phrygien, or Cap of Liberty, appears alongside the Roman fasces, emblematic of civic authority and unity, and the equilateral triangle, a symbol associated with equality, virtue and regeneration. Together, these motifs encapsulate the visual language of Revolutionary France and the transformation of Sèvres from a royal manufactory into an instrument of the Republic.
A further cup and saucer of the same form and decoration was acquired by the South Kensington Museum, now the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, from the Bond Collection in 1877, acc. nos. 770/770A-1877.
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