A PAIR OF GILT-BRONZE MOUNTED RED RELACQUERED WOOD COVERED VASES FORMING POTS-POURRIS, LOUIS XVI, CIRCA 1780 |

the handles with a zoomorphic design, the frieze under the cover partly pierced, on a piédouche with flat channels

- Collection Baronne Cassel van Doorn ; her sale Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 30 May 1956, lot 84,
- Private Collection in an appartment decorated by Victor Grandpierre, Paris

Literature:
T. Kernan (dir.), "Les réussites de la décoration française 1950-1960", collection Maison & Jardin, Paris, 1960, p. 89 (illustrated)

Literature reference:
L. Courajoud, Livre-Journal de Lazarre Duvaux, marchand-bijoutier ordinaire du roi 1748-1758, Paris, 1874, pp. X-XV

Louis Courajoud, who published in 1874 the Livre-Journal de Lazarre Duvaux, marchand-bijoutier ordinaire du roi 1748-1758 (jewelry dealer to the King) informs in his introduction (pp. X-XV) the importance given to the use of potpourri, an element 'essentiel dans tout appartement qui avait des prétentions à l'élégance, et dont le possesseur visait à la distinction. [...]. Le pot-pourri était chargé de répandre dans les appartements une odueur douce pénétrante par les aromates qu'on y jetait et qu'on y mélangeait avec des eaux de senteur' (essential in any apartment that had pretensions for elegance, and whose owner aimed for distinction ... The pot-pourri was responsible for spreading in the apartments a sweet smell penetrating by the aromatics that were thrown in and mixed with scented waters). A recipe follows detailing a concoction including thirty ingredients! Censers and potpourri vases were the novelty of decorative art dealers, genuine works of art made from porcelain, metal or lacquered wood with gilt bronze mountings. Among the lacquered objects, those that were in red, more rare, were particularly appreciated. In the 18th century, the range of reds employed was relatively wide as explained by Félix Watin, in his book devoted to L'art du peintre, doreur et vernisseur first published in Paris in 1773, then in 1823 (9th edition), p. 39-40 .: 'La laque rouge, fine, vraie, dite laque de Venise ou de Florence, est celle dont le corps chimique blanc, ou terre d'alun, est teint avec une couleur extraite de la cochenille. Cette dénomination de Venise, ou de Florence, lui vient parce qu'elle doit son origine à l'une de ces deux villes ; on en fabrique d'aussi belle à Paris : on les distingue en laques carminées et en laques fines. On s'en sert pour le tableau et pour la décoration [...] la laque plate, qui vient d'Italie, sert beaucoup pour la décoration [...] la laque de garance est une couleur d'un beau rouge analogue à celui que donne la cochenille et qu'on emploie aux mêmes usages, surtout dans les cas où l'on a besoin d'une plus grande fixité [...]'. (The red lacquer, fine, true, called lacquer of Venice or Florence, is the one whose white chemical body, or alum stone, is dyed with a color extracted from cochineal. This denomination of Venice or Florence, arose because it owes its origin to one of these two cities; they are made equally fine in Paris: they are distinguished in carmine lacquers and thin lacquers. It is used for a painting and decoration [...] the thin lacquer, which comes from Italy, is used a lot for decoration [...] the madder root lacquer is a color of a beautiful red similar to the one from cochineal and used for the same purposes, especially in cases where greater constancy is needed [...]).

One pair of Chinese porcelain celadon pots-pourris with chiseled and gilt bronze mounts identical to those of our vases belonged in the collection of Madame de Polès, auctioned in Paris at the Galerie Georges Petit, 22-23 and 24 June 1927 (lot n° 174, ill. pl. CXXI.).