Estimate

1.500 - 2.000

Session 2

22 October 2024

Hammer Price

Description

Chinese export porcelain
Moulded and polychrome decoration
each painted with medallion featuring a urn under willow , forming the profiled silhouettes of King Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette and their two children, the Dauphin, future King Louis XVII, and Mme. Royale, Duchess of Angouleme
Qing Dynasty, ca. 1795
(basin restored and with wear to decoration, ewer restored to handle and lid pommel)

Height: 31 cm (gomil) 33x23 cm (bacia)

Category

Porcelain

Additional Information

Note:
The decoration of this ewer and basin set, known as "L'Urne Mystérieuse," gained popularity among monarchist sympathizers after the French Revolution of 1793. The medallion depicted on both pieces is based on an anonymous 1793 engraving, widely circulated, which lamented the execution of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, reflecting the sorrow over the fall of the monarchy. This decoration was reproduced on Chinese export porcelain, commissioned by various supporters of the royalist cause as a tribute and remembrance of the ancien régime.

Literature:
HOWARD, David; AYERS, John. China for the West, Vol. I, London, 1978.
BEURDELEY, Michel. Porcelain of the East Asia Companies. London, 1962