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Boite à sucre or sucrier ovale uni et plateau: C.13.2 & A & B-1961

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Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Boite à sucre or sucrier ovale uni et plateau

Maker(s)

Factory: Vincennes Porcelain Manufactory

Entities

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain sugar basin, cover and stand, decorated with underglaze blue ground, reserves painted in enamels with flowers, foliage and birds, and gilding.

Soft-paste porcelain, each piece moulded, decorated with an underglaze bleu lapis ground, painting in blue, green, yellow, brownish orange, dark pink, mauve, purple, and grey enamels and gilding. The stand is oval with rim notched to create two long and two short lobes. The basin is oval with deep sloping sides and a domed cover with a handle formed by two looped and interlaced branches with moulded leaves at the junction of the ends with the cover. The basin and stand each has a hole for suspension in the footring.
The bowl is decorated with two oval reserves and the cover and stand with two tri-lobate reserves, framed by gold palms, flowers and foliage. Each reserve is painted in polychrome enamels with two flying birds, one of each pair carrying a branch in its claws, except in one reserve on the basin, and ne on the stand in which one carries it in its beak. The stand has a plain band of gilding round the edge of the base and a dentilated band round the rim. The bowl has a plain band of gilding round the base and a dentilated band round the rim. The cover has a dentilated band of gilding round the outer edge and touches of gilding on the handle.
The basin and stand has a suspension hole in the footrim.

Notes

History note: Uncertain before Louis C.G. Clarke (2 May 1881-13 December 1960), Leckhampton, Cambridge

Legal notes

Louis C.G. Clarke Bequest

Place(s) associated

  • Vincennes ⪼ Val-de-Marne ⪼ France

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1961-04-27) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray

Dating

18th Century, Mid#
Louis XV
Production date: circa AD 1752 : Suspension holes in the footring were introduced in 1752.

Note

Holes in the footrings by which objects could be suspended during firing were introduced in 1752, so this basin and stand were probably made in 1752 or in 1753 before the introduction of the date letter, although there is evidence to suggest that this was probably in 1754 rather than 1753.

Moulds for a boite à sucre unie ovale avec plateau were mentioned in the factory's inventory of October 1752. Préaud and d'Albis (Documentation 1991) noted the making of this form by 1752 and in two sizes by the time Mme de Pompadour bought one of the first size on 12 May 1753. This is the smaller size. This example, unlike some others, does not have an aperture to take a spoon.

Underglaze blue - bleu lapis - grounds were in production by September 1751. At Vincennes they were often combined with reserves painted with gold or coloured flying birds.

School or Style

Rococo

Components of the work

Decoration composed of underglaze blue ground ( bleu lapis) enamels ( blue, green, yellow, brownish orange, dark pink, mauve, purple, and grey) gold
Bowl Height 10.4 cm Length 13.7 cm Width 10.1 cm
Stand Height 3.8 cm Length 23.1 cm Width 18.4 cm
Bowl Only Height 6 cm
Cover Length 13.9 cm Width 10.5 cm

Materials used in production

Lead-glaze
Soft-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Moulding : Soft-paste porcelain, each piece moulded, decorated with underglaze bleu lapis ground, painting in blue, green, yellow, brownish orange, dark pink, mauve, purple, and grey enamels and gilding.
Lead-glazing

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: interlaced Ls

  • Text: two interlaced Ls
  • Location: On basin and stand
  • Method of creation: In underglaze blue (bleu lapis)
  • Type: Mark
  • Text: 6
  • Location: On base of basin to left of suspension hole
  • Method of creation: Incised
  • Type: Mark

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.13.2 & A & B-1961
Primary reference Number: 71755
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 18 December 2023 Last processed: Monday 18 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) "Boite à sucre or sucrier ovale uni et plateau" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/71755 Accessed: 2024-03-28 14:50:52

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/71755 |title=Boite à sucre or sucrier ovale uni et plateau |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-03-28 14:50:52|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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