A Sèvres Beau Bleu Porcelain Coffee Can and a Saucer (Gobelet 'Litron', 2ème Grandeur et sa Soucoupe, 3ème Grandeur)

Circa 1785

the cup with gilt interlaced Ls and incised 36D F, the still life painting attributed to Micaud, the gilding to Le Guay, the saucer with blue interlaced Ls enclosing date letter HH, painter's mark for Julien le jeune, unidentified PR and incised 117; the cup painted in colors with a still life of fruit and flowers in a basket on a marble ledge reserved within a gilt ciselé band and with tiny gold foil stars applied to the cobalt blue ground, the substitute saucer with a central jewelled star within a sunburst, the border with gilt foil stars between gilt bands.
Height of cup 2 3/4 inches; diameter of saucer 4 5/8 inches.

This lot is located in Chicago.

Provenance:

Mary Poter Walsh, Oklahoma City;

Christie’s, New York, Fine French and Continental & European Ceramics and [...], 16-18 November 1999, Lot 221

Rinceaux, Palm Beach, no. 1101, 30 May 2000 (with invoice)

Note:

The present gobelet ‘Litron’ is almost certainly a cup missing from a part cabaret retained in the British Royal Collection.

In 1826, an inventory of the Confectionary at Carlton House noted 'no. 239: A Dejeuni of blue with gold stars, painted in fruit and flowers. Consisting of five Cups & Saucers, Teapot, Sugar Bason and Cover, Cream Ewer and Slop Bason.' Of these, only the sugar bowl and cover (pot à sucre ‘Calabre’ 1ère grandeur), one cup (gobelet ‘Litron’, 2ème grandeur) and two saucers (soucoupes, 2ème grandeur) remain in the Royal Collection. A comparison of the present cup with the illustrations in Sir Geoffrey’s comprehensive catalogue leave little doubt that the still lifes of a basket of flowers on a marble table found on each piece are by the same hand. That the factory mark on the present cup also corresponds to the other pieces in this cabaret helps solidify the attribution of the lush still life painting on the present cup to Jacques-François Micaud père (active 1757-1810 as a flower painter), the stars and gilding to Le Guay (active 1751-1797 as a gilder), and the piece itself as originally part of this service.

See Sir Geoffrey de Bellaigue, French Porcelain: In the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, London, Vol. III, cat. no. 251, pp. 895-898 for a detailed discussion of these pieces and of what is almost certainly the payment records for Micaud and Le Guay when they worked on this service, executed between May 1784 and April 1785.

Julien le jeune (active 1784-1786), is recorded at Sèvres as a painter specializing in flowers and as a gilder. His mark appears only on the slightly small replacement saucer with gilt decoration.

A Sèvres Beau Bleu Porcelain Coffee Can and a Saucer (Gobelet 'Litron', 2ème Grandeur et sa Soucoupe, 3ème Grandeur)

A Sèvres Beau Bleu Porcelain Coffee Can and a Saucer (Gobelet 'Litron', 2ème Grandeur et sa Soucoupe, 3ème Grandeur)

A Sèvres Beau Bleu **Porcelain Coffee Can and a Saucer (Gobelet 'Litron', 2ème Grandeur et sa Soucoupe, 3ème Grandeur)**

A Sèvres Beau Bleu **Porcelain Coffee Can and a Saucer (Gobelet 'Litron', 2ème Grandeur et sa Soucoupe, 3ème Grandeur)**