Porcelain Ewer And Basin, Porcelaine Old Paris, Louis-philippe-era Toiletries Set

Paris porcelain ewer and basin, Louis-Philippe period, depicting the Île de la Cité and the Pont Neuf.

A two-piece set consisting of a circular basin and a water jug. The basin is decorated with gold borders and floral motifs, including a gilded frieze of flowering knotweed on the inside of the bowl. The ewer features a Parisian view of the Pont Neuf within an ovoid medallion. 

This view serves as a historical record of Old Paris. In 1775, architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot oversaw the construction of twenty shops on the semicircular structures atop the piers of the Pont Neuf. The last shop disappeared in 1854.

One of the last depictions of the Pont Neuf shops is preserved at the Marmottan Museum; it was painted by Joseph-Eusebe and is titled *The Pont Neuf as Seen from the Quai des Orfèvres*, 1845.

Condition: wear on the rosette decoration on the basin and small hairline cracks on the rim; slight wear on the ewer; gold restoration on the handle and spout

Ewer height: 24 cm

Basin height: 9 cm
Basin diameter: 26 cm