SAINT CLOUD c.1720 – 1740 French Soft-Paste Porcelain

An 18th Century Saint Cloud Blue and White Soft-Paste Porcelain Pot a Fard (Toilet Pot, Probably for Face Cream) Decorated in Blue and White c.1720-1740. The Based Marked ` t S.t T P`.
SOLD

Condition
In perfect condition.
Size
Height : 7 cm (2 3/4 inches)
Provenance
N/A
Stock number
23569
References
For a similar Saint Cloud porcelain Pot a Fard see : French Porcelain, A Catalogue of the British Museum (Aileen Dawson, British Museum Press, 1994) page 25, plate 27.

Photos

Information

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.