Probably SAINT CLOUD c.1720 – 1740 French Soft Paste Porcelain
An 18th Century French Porcelain Cane Handle, Probably St.Cloud c.1720-1740. Decorated with a Lambrequin Design in Blue and White.
SOLD
- Condition
- In perfect condition.
- Size
- Height : 6 cm (2 1/2 inches)
- Provenance
- From a Private Dutch Collection.
- Stock number
- 24021
- References
- A St.Cloud blue and white porcelain cane handle of this type dated 1700-1750 is in the Victoria and Albert Museum reference 228-1869, Ceramics Study Galleries, Britain & Europe, room 139, case 25, shelf 8. For a large group of blue and white St.Cloud porcelain cane handles see : Porcelaines de Saint-Cloud, Le Collection Du Musee des Arts Decoratives (Christine Lahaussois, Reunion des Musees National,1997) page 187.
Photos
Information
Lambrequin Designs on French Ceramics :
This design is in a style traditionally related to the great Baroque designer to the French court of Louis XIV, Jean Berain (1640-1711). Berain`s style of grotesques and strap-work were used on all types of decorative art from furniture to tapestries, silver ware and just about anything else. His stylistic language is based on a Renaissance understanding of a type of Roman design. However the designs one finds on St.Cloud porcelain are more linear and weightless, they are more in keeping with ornamental prints. Of the more complex designs, a few have been possible to identify from the original source material. They are not taken from Berain designs but from the etchings of a prolific architect Jacques Androuent Du Cereau, who early in his life spent time working in Italy (in the 1530`s). However it seems to me inconceivable that his designs would have been used in the early 18th century unless Berain and his grotesque style were so popular. Both are interpretations of Classical Roman design but from different generations.