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A SÈVRES (SOFT-PASTE) PORCELAIN PART-TEA SERVICE FROM THE DUKE OF PARMA GREEN SERVICE, 1765 |
Estimate
35,000 - 45,000 GBP
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Description
- porcelain
- the teapot 14cm., 5 1/2 in. high
painted with scenes of birds in landscapes within gilt cartouches reserved on a green ground enriched with gilded œil-de-perdrix borders entwined with foliage swags, including:a teapot and cover (théière Calabre), of the first size, a milk jug (pot à lait à trois pieds), of the first size, a sugar bowl and cover (pot à sucre Hébert), of the first size, and six cups and saucers (gobelet Hébert et soucoupes polylobées), interlated LL marks in blue, date letter M for 1765, the cups and saucers and sugar bowl with painter’s mark for Étienne Evans (active as a painter from 1752-1806, the teapot and milk jug with painter’s mark M for Jean-Louis Morin (active as a painter from 1754-1787),
Provenance
Delivered on the 14th May 1765 to Claude Bonnet, payeur des rentes and agent in Paris for the court of Parma for Philip 1st (1720-1765), Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla (1748-1765), husband of Louise-Élisabeth of France (1720-1759), Duchess of Parma (1748-1759), daughter of King Louis XV and Marie Leszczyńska of France;
Ferdinand 1st (1751-1802), Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla (1765-1802);
David Falcke (1816-1866) collection, sold Christie’s London, 19th April–12th May 1858, lots 3012-3020;
Herzog von Coburg collection;
Anonymous sale, Christie‘s London, 2nd November 1998, lot 260;
Lady Winifred Hilton collection, Alton Manor, Idrigehay;
Private Collection.
Ferdinand 1st (1751-1802), Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla (1765-1802);
David Falcke (1816-1866) collection, sold Christie’s London, 19th April–12th May 1858, lots 3012-3020;
Herzog von Coburg collection;
Anonymous sale, Christie‘s London, 2nd November 1998, lot 260;
Lady Winifred Hilton collection, Alton Manor, Idrigehay;
Private Collection.
Literature
ASSOCIATED LITERATURE
Andreina d'Agliano, 'The European porcelain collection of the Dukes of Parma: Some objects and documents', The French Porcelain Society Journal, 2015, Vol. V, pp. 67-81.
Andreina d'Agliano, 'The European porcelain collection of the Dukes of Parma: Some objects and documents', The French Porcelain Society Journal, 2015, Vol. V, pp. 67-81.
Condition
In overall good appearance. The flower finial of the teapot cover has been cleanly re-stuck at the terminal, with some minor associated restoration to leaves. The base of the teapot with a faint hairline crack, extending just under the lower terminal of the handle and the base of the spout. Otherwise some very minor scattered flakes to gilding at rims only, some of which have been neatly re-touched. Typical minor scattered surface scratches.
"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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
Philip de Bourbon, son of Philip V of Spain (1683-1746) and Elisabeth Farnese (1692-1766), married his first cousin once removed, the eldest daughter of Louis XV, Louise-Élisabeth of France. Louise-Élisabeth was married by proxy at Versailles on 25th August, and was thereafter known as Madame Infanta in France before departing for Spain. The marriage, which followed a tradition of strategic alliances between the catholic kingdoms of Spain and France, took place on 25th October 1739 in Alcalá de Henares. The couple had three children, Isabella of Parma (1741-1763) who would marry the brother of Marie Antoinette, Archduke Joseph of Austria (1741-1790) the future Emperor Joseph II; Ferdinand (1751-1801), who succeeded his father as the Duke of Parma; and Marie Luisa (1751-1819), the future Queen consort to Charles IV of Spain (1748-1819).
The 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended the War of the Austrian Succession, resulted in the Empress of Austria Maria Theresa ceding the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla to Philip and Louise-Élisabeth. Upon their arrival in Parma, the residences they were to occupy were sparsely furnished; the French statesmen René-Louis de Voyer de Paulmy (1694-1757) observed in 1749 that the palace at Parma was bereft of everything, that it had not a stick of furniture nor even a staircase.1 Upon the elevation of Philip’s brother Charles to King of Naples in 1734, Charles had directed the Parma residence be stripped of its contents and furnishings, and that most of the Farnese collection in the Duchy of Parma be sent to Naples. The new Duke and Duchess ordered the restoration of both the exterior and interior of the ducal palaces in the French taste.
On the 14th May 1765, Duke Philip 1st of Parma, through his agent in Paris, Claude Bonnet, bought a large green-ground service decorated with flowers including 144 plates. This service was accompanied by a large tea service consisting of 48 cups and saucers, 4 sugar pots, 2 teapots and 2 milk pots. The whole service comprised 342 pieces to which 40 additional biscuit figures were added, for a total price of 20,906 livres. (Archives, Sèvres, cité de la céramique, Vy 4 f° 37) (fig. 1). The service is then mentioned in the Office et gobelet of S.A.R the Duke of Parma in an inventory dated 15th October 1768, today still preserved in the archives of the Duchy of Parma. It is then mentioned again as complete in a second inventory of 1802 (Briganti, Carte e Documenti- Documents on the arts at Parma court in the XVIII century, Antologia di Belle Arti, 1997, pp. 397-398.).
Much of the service is now preserved in the Quirinale palace in Rome. It is accompanied by an incomplete part of the tea service, namely: 1 sugar pot, 2 milk pots, 8 Hébert cups decorated as the present service with birds on terraces on a green ground, and 31 cups (gobelet Hébert) painted with flowers on green ground.
For a study of this service see : Alessandra Ghidoli, Il patrimonio artistico del Quirinale, Le vaselle, 2000, pp. 113-149, no. 24 where cups and saucers are illustrated, and David Peters, Sèvres plates and services of the 18th century, Little Berkhamsted, 2015, vol. II, pp. 369-370, no. 65-3.
Further examples of tea wares which could relate to the service include a pair of gobelet Hébert et soucoupes polylobées, painted by Evans and dated 1765, sold Christie’s London, 29th October 1973, lot 34; Dr. Anella Brown, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 23rd April 1977, lot 59; then Kenneth S. Battye collection, Sotheby's New York, 21st May 2004, lot 160 (fig. 2); and a single gobelet Hébert et soucoupe, painted by Evans dated 1764, sold in these rooms, 13th July 1976, lot 27, then Christie's London, 3rd March 1986, lot 204 (fig. 3). 1. Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide, The Wrightsman Galleries for French Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, p. 62.
The 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended the War of the Austrian Succession, resulted in the Empress of Austria Maria Theresa ceding the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla to Philip and Louise-Élisabeth. Upon their arrival in Parma, the residences they were to occupy were sparsely furnished; the French statesmen René-Louis de Voyer de Paulmy (1694-1757) observed in 1749 that the palace at Parma was bereft of everything, that it had not a stick of furniture nor even a staircase.1 Upon the elevation of Philip’s brother Charles to King of Naples in 1734, Charles had directed the Parma residence be stripped of its contents and furnishings, and that most of the Farnese collection in the Duchy of Parma be sent to Naples. The new Duke and Duchess ordered the restoration of both the exterior and interior of the ducal palaces in the French taste.
On the 14th May 1765, Duke Philip 1st of Parma, through his agent in Paris, Claude Bonnet, bought a large green-ground service decorated with flowers including 144 plates. This service was accompanied by a large tea service consisting of 48 cups and saucers, 4 sugar pots, 2 teapots and 2 milk pots. The whole service comprised 342 pieces to which 40 additional biscuit figures were added, for a total price of 20,906 livres. (Archives, Sèvres, cité de la céramique, Vy 4 f° 37) (fig. 1). The service is then mentioned in the Office et gobelet of S.A.R the Duke of Parma in an inventory dated 15th October 1768, today still preserved in the archives of the Duchy of Parma. It is then mentioned again as complete in a second inventory of 1802 (Briganti, Carte e Documenti- Documents on the arts at Parma court in the XVIII century, Antologia di Belle Arti, 1997, pp. 397-398.).
Much of the service is now preserved in the Quirinale palace in Rome. It is accompanied by an incomplete part of the tea service, namely: 1 sugar pot, 2 milk pots, 8 Hébert cups decorated as the present service with birds on terraces on a green ground, and 31 cups (gobelet Hébert) painted with flowers on green ground.
For a study of this service see : Alessandra Ghidoli, Il patrimonio artistico del Quirinale, Le vaselle, 2000, pp. 113-149, no. 24 where cups and saucers are illustrated, and David Peters, Sèvres plates and services of the 18th century, Little Berkhamsted, 2015, vol. II, pp. 369-370, no. 65-3.
Further examples of tea wares which could relate to the service include a pair of gobelet Hébert et soucoupes polylobées, painted by Evans and dated 1765, sold Christie’s London, 29th October 1973, lot 34; Dr. Anella Brown, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 23rd April 1977, lot 59; then Kenneth S. Battye collection, Sotheby's New York, 21st May 2004, lot 160 (fig. 2); and a single gobelet Hébert et soucoupe, painted by Evans dated 1764, sold in these rooms, 13th July 1976, lot 27, then Christie's London, 3rd March 1986, lot 204 (fig. 3). 1. Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide, The Wrightsman Galleries for French Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2010, p. 62.