Covered Ecuelle with tray
Sèvres hard porcelain painted and enhanced with gilding
Mark HP of the gilder Prévost, Henri Martin active until 1797
Unidentified painter's mark D
Sèvres, circa 1773
Dimensions : L. 23 (cm.)
Rare and elegant covered bowl and its second size tray. This one is circular, with two handles formed of twisted foliage. The lid has a handle imitating a plant. The tray has raised and slightly curved edges.
The decoration consists of two-tone gilding, garlands of palmettes and foliate scrolls, and a pink Taillandier background at the top.
Hard paste at Sèvres and Taillandier backgrounds
Experimented with from 1765, and adopted in 1772 mainly for sculpture, hard paste coexisted with soft paste for the production of shaped pieces and services until the Revolutionary period.
Thanks to the preservation of two covered "milk" goblets, dated 1766 and 1767, it is possible to date the appearance of the Taillandier base fairly precisely, which is composed of a solid colour against which irregularly outlined white circles stand out. Authorship of this design is shared between the eponymous Taillandier and Jean-Baptiste Tandart, another talented craftsman at the manufactory.
Condition report: very good
[1] Jean-Baptiste Tandart: painter and inventor of decorations at Sèvres by Jean de Cayeux
Sèvres. Revue de la Société des Amis du musée national de Céramique Année 2000 9 pp. 26-37