Vincennes Pyramid Shaped Teapot and Cover, Circa 1753
A Vincennes Bleu Lapis Conical Teapot and Cover (Theiere ‘A la Reine, numero 2 rectifie’)
Blue interlaced L’s, Painter’s mark for Thévenet L’Ainé.
Of conical form, with faceted spout, angled loop handle and conical cover with flower finial, painted in colours with birds in flight reserved on the dark blue ground within gilt cartouches of trellis and flowering vine.
Provenance
German Collection (by tradition)
With Winifred Williams, July 1966
Sir John Plumb F.B.A., no. 55
New England Collection
Literature
Sir John Plumb, “The Intrigue of Sèvres”, House and Garden, January 1986, p.44, illus.
The model was designed by Jean-Claude Duplessis, pére. The first firings are recorded in 1753, the date of the present example.
The example in Palazzo Pitti was purchased on 11 April 1758 by the Duchess of Parma, daughter of Louis XV for 84 livres. As is the case with this example, it has no date letter. Other undated examples are in the David Collection and a private collection, Paris. See Svend Eriksen, French Porcelain in Palazzo Pitt, Florence, 1973, pp. 38-9, no. 7; Svend Eriksen, The David Collection, French Porcelain, Copenhagen, 1980, no. 33a; and Tamara Préaud and Antoine D’Albis, La Porcelaine de Vincennes, Paris, 1991, no. 139.
The factory sales records note as delivered to M. Duvaux on 31 December 1753: “1 théyère à la reine 2e grandeur lapis oiseaux colorés….96 livres. Unfortunately, it is impossible to know with certainty whether this refers to the present example or to the other examples cited above.
Louis-Jean Thévenet, recorded at Vincennes and Sèvres as a flower and pattern painter, 1741 – 1777.