Royal Sèvres Manufactory, A Celestial-blue Porcelain Covered Ecuelle And Stand, 1771

ROYAL MANUFACTORY OF SÈVRES
A lidded bowl with an oval-shaped outer rim, made of soft porcelain with a sky-blue background, featuring polychrome decoration within reserved areas depicting baskets of flowers and lavish bouquets in full bloom set upon entablatures. The multi-lobed cartouches are outlined with foliage scrolls, garlands of flowers and friezes combed with brilliant gold in trellis motifs. The side handles and the lid’s grip are modelled on sinuous branches enhanced with gold.
Marked in blue on the underside with two interlaced Ls, the letter ‘S’ indicating the year 1771, and the mark ‘L.’ of the floral painter Denis Levé (who worked at the Manufacture between 1754–93 and then 1795–1805) France. Louis XV period, dated 1771.
H_6 cm (the bowl) L_29 cm (the tray)
Very good condition.

The lidded bowl and its stand were an indispensable ceremonial item in the tableware and toiletries sets of the aristocracy in the 18th century, used primarily for serving hot broth upon rising from bed or in the privacy of the privy. The sky-blue background, developed by the chemist Jean Hellot in 1753 for the first major service commissioned by Louis XV, is one of the manufactory’s most iconic and expensive background colours.


The floral decoration on this piece is the work of Denis Levé (who worked in Vincennes and then in Sèvres from 1754 to 1793), one of the most talented and prolific painters of flowers and fruit at the Royal Manufactory during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI.Recognisable by his cursive ‘L’-shaped mark, he contributed to the manufactory’s most prestigious services intended for the Crown and European diplomacy. Having joined Sèvres at the height of the Rocaille period, Denis Levé demonstrates here all the delicacy and chromatic freshness of his art through the composition of these spring baskets and bouquets, magnificently set off by the rich, chiselled gold frames characteristic of the period.