A large square Sèvres flower tub (caisse à fleurs) dated 1758-59

painted by Denis Levé, of tapering square section, each side painted with colourful flowers and fruit bouquets in camïeu bleu, the corners with interlacing flower swags, filled with porcelain-headed green metal flowers 




 



 

Sold, Paris, Etude Tajan, Hôtel Georges V, 25th October 1993, lot 153.
Partridge Fine Arts, London

Three flowers with chips to petals, one flower broken and re-stuck, the flower tub with a minor scratch running horizontally through the flower painting (ca. 3.5cm.)
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present jardinière is the only one recorded of this form without handles. Four examples with two angular handles on the sides are known.
A pair was in the Rosebery collection sold by Sotheby's London, 21st April 1964, lot 48 and then illustrated by Geoffrey de Bellaigue and Svend Eriksen, Sèvres Porcelain, London, 1987, n° 131, p.318 in the collection of Lady Jane Abdy. This pair shares with our caisse à fleurs the same blue ornaments and date letter F ; they could likely have been made to form a garniture of three.
Another one dated 1758-59, painted by Micaud and fitted with a tree bearing a number of porcelain flowers was sold by Sotheby's London, 28th November 1967, lot 139, then Sotheby's London, 5th March 1985, lot 117 and Christie's London, 14th July 2006, lot 62.
A fourth dated 1764 with blue shells on the corners was in the Chappey collection (illustrated by Frédéric Masson, « La Porcelaine de Sèvres, collection Chappey », Les Arts, 1905, p. 12), then sold
in Paris, Etude Pescheteau, Hôtel Drouot, 22 November 1996, lot 223, then Christie's London, 7-9 July 1997, lot 222 and Sotheby's London 20 June 2000, lot 80.
In the inventory taken after the death of Madame de Pompadour on 12 July 1764 among the porcelaines de France from Versailles are listed under n° 671 - Un vaze à mettre des fleurs première grandeur; deux grandes caisses à anses, pour mettre des arbustes, prisé 144 livres. [a vase for flowers, two handled boxes for shrubs] (Jean Cordey, Inventaire des biens de madame de Pompadour rédigé après son décès, Paris, 1939). This entry could describe a garniture of three but the single vase could either be a cuvette à fleurs because of the first size mentioned and also because in the same inventory un vaze à fleurs à deux compartiments is listed among the Sèvres porcelain from Compiègne which is probably a cuvette à compartiments or cuvette Choisy. In the first half of the 1762, the marquise de Pompadour bought also four white grandes caisses pour le jardin.
The probate inventory written on 28th September 1763 after the death of Marie Brulart de Laborde, duchesse de Luynes, dame d'honneur de la Reine Marie Leczinska, in her Hôtel rue Saint Dominique mention among the porcelains which were brought in Paris from her apartments at Versailles jardinieres fitted with a bouquet of porcelain flowers :
N° 87 Deux urnes en forme de pot à fleurs de porcelaine de Sèvres, prisés 18#
n° 95 Une urne garnie d'un bouquet de différentes fleurs le tout de porcelaines de Sèvres, prisé 60# (AN/MC/ET/XXIII/656)