NOTABLE SALES
Our gallery proudly connects rare and historically artworks with collectors worldwide. This page highlights some of our most remarkable sales, celebrating the beauty and craftsmanship of porcelain artistry.
CABARET KNOWN AS
THE TÊTE-À-TÊTE DES ‘FEMMES CÉLÈBRES’
SÈVRES (France)
IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY
JEAN GEORGET (1763-1823) (Painter)
Hard porcelain, enamels, gold, platinum
Circa 1814
Provenance
Entered the sales warehouse of the Manufacture Impériale de Sèvres on 26 December 1814
Delivered to King Louis XVIII, then presented to HRH the Duke of Angoulême
on the occasion of the end-of-year exhibition in 1816
Collection of the Hamburg notary Dr. Georg Adolf Remé
Cabinet de la reine-Haus Lüttensasel, Hamburg, no. 523
Lange sale, Berlin, 9 April 1938, lot 949
Sold to MBA Montréal, Canada
A TRILOBED BASIN DEPICTING MOSES STRINKING WATER FROM THE ROCK
FRANCESCO PATANAZZI ( † 1616) (workshop of)
URBINO (Italy)
A TRILOBED BASIN DEPICTING MOSES STRINKING WATER FROM THE ROCK
Tin-glazed earthenware Circa 1585-1600
H. 22 cm ; L. 50 cm
Provenance
Collection Elia Volpi, Palazzo Davanzati, Firenze, 1903-1904 Collection Riccardo Tondolo, Italy, 2010
Hampel, Munich, Majolika, 27 june 2013, lot 521 Collection Al Thani, Hôtel Lambert, Paris, 2022.
Publication
Ettore Sannipoli, Via della ceramica tra Umbria e Marche, Maioliche Rinacimentali da Collezioni, Gubbio, 2010, pp.288.
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Sold to J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA
A PAIR OF BLUE GROUND VASES ‘MÉDICIS’ WITH GILT JUPITER HEADS EACH PAINTED WITH SCENES DEPICTING THE POET HORATIUS, AND CAMEO MEDALLIONS.
SÈVRES (France)
IMPERIAL MANUFACTORY OF PORCELAIN
JEAN-ALEXIS GIRARD dit GIRARD DE VERSAILLES (active between 1795 and 1817) (Painter)
CHARLES-MARIE-PIERRE BOITEL (active between 1797 and 1822)
Hard-paste porcelain, enamels, gold
Circa 1806
H. 41 cm ; D. 30 cm
Inscriptions
‘GLINDERA TINDARIS PYRRHA LIDIA’
on the painted scene of the first vase
‘Q.HORATIUS/FLACCUS’
on the medallion of Horatius
Marks
Stamped red mark : ‘M. Imple de Sèvres’
Mark of the year 14 (1805-1806)
Provenance
Gift from the Emperor Napoléon Ier to M. Regnaud de Saint-Jean d’Angély, Conseiller d’Etat,
at the occasion of the wedding of his Imperial Highness Prince Jérôme
and Princess Catherine of Württemberg in 1807
Private collection, France.
Sold to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, USA
PAIR OF LARGE BAROQUE VASES OF A BALUSTER SHAPE WITH HANDLES FORMED BY ACANTHUS LEAVES PAINTED IN BLUE WITH ALLEGORICAL FIGURES: MUSE OF POETRY AND MUSE OF ABUNDANCE
SIRO ANTONIO AFRICA (Painted by)
or SIRO DOMENICO AFRICA (his nephew)
(attributed to)
ANTONIO FRANCESCO IMBRES (Workshop of)
(attributed to)
PAVIA (Italy)
Tin-glazed earthenware
Circa 1700
H. 47 cm​
Provenance
Private collection, France.
Sold to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, USA
A PLAQUE DEPICTING TIZIANO’S MISTRESS
MARIE-VICTOIRE JAQUOTOT (1772-1855)
SÈVRES (France)
ROYAL MANUFACTORY OF PORCELAIN
Hard-paste porcelain, enamels, gold
1819
H. 48 cm ; L. 32,7 cm
​
After
Tiziano Vecellio (1488/1490-1576), Mirror Woman, circa 1515, 99 x 76 cm,
Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. 755.
​
Inscriptions
Marked with the two ‘L’ interlaced, surmounted by a crown inside a laurel wreath
The gilt wood frame titled “MME JAQUOTOT D’APRÈS LE TITIEN”
Provenance
Acquired by the duc de Berry in 1820 for 15,000.00 francs (A.M.N.S., Vbb 5, f° 21 v°) The duchesse de Berry collection, France Her sale, 19 April 1865, Paris, n°535, p.112, acquired by comte de Lafaulotte His sale 5-13 April 1886, Paris, n°586, p.26, acquired by M. Bonynge for 1000 francs Private collection, U.S.A since 1950 (according to Seidenberg Antiques) Seidenberg Antiques, New-York Sale Sotheby’s New-York, 24 October 2019, lot 843. Related model A Sèvres porcelain plaque depicting Tiziano’s mistress after Tiziano Vecellio, painted by Antoine Béranger (1785-1867), circa 1834, Musée National de la céramique, Sèvres, inv. MNC7656. Exhibitions Exposition des Arts et de l’Industrie française, Louvre, Paris, 1820 (Then purchased by the duc de Berry for 15,000.00 francs) Sold to Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, USA
A PERSIAN BLUE GROUND COVERED VASE DECORATED ‘À LA BOUGIE’ WITH TWISTED HANDLES
NEVERS (France)
Tin- glazed earthenware
Circa 1665-1685
H. 60 cm ;
D. 30 cm with handles ; D. 21 cm without handles
Provenance
Private collection, France.
Related model
Camille Leprince, La faïence baroque française et les jardins de Le Nôtre, Feu et Talent, 2014, cat.51, pp.256-257.
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Sold to Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA
FUSEAU VASE 2nd LARGE BEAU BLEU BOTTOM
DECORATED WITH THE PORTRAIT OF THE EMPRESS MARIE-LOUISE AND A RICH GOLD AND PLATINUM DECORATION FLANKED BY TWISTED HANDLES WITH ORMOLU EAGLE HEADS
SÈVRES (France)
IMPERIAL PORCELAIN FACTORY
ABRAHAM CONSTANTIN (active from 1813 to 1848)
(Figurist painter)
CHARLES-CHRISTIAN-MARIE DUROSEY (active from 1800 to 1830)
(Gilder)
PIERRE-PHILIPPE THOMIRE (1751-1843)
(Bronzier)
Hard porcelain, enamels, gold, platinum, ormolu
1813
H. 56 cm
Marks and inscriptions
Incised marks ‘10’ and ‘dp’.
Mark in green for the coloured background ‘15.d.11’.
The portrait is signed ‘Constantin’.
After
François Gérard (1770-1837), Portrait of Empress Marie-Louise.
Provenance
Presented on New Year's Day 1814 by SS. Emperor Napoleon I and Empress Marie-Louise, to Catherine of Württemberg, wife of Jérôme Bonaparte and Queen of Westphalia Former Fabius Frères collection Christie's London, 3 June 2014, lot 53 Twinight collection, New York Camille Leprince, Paris. Similar example Spindle-shaped vase with portrait of Emperor Napoleon I, 1813, Fondation Napoléon, Inv. 1165. Publication Camille Leprince, Napoléon I & Sèvres. The art of porcelain in the service of the Empire, Paris, Feu et Talent, 2016, p.199. Sold to Musée Napoléon Ier, Chateau de Fontainebleau, France
PAIR OF ‘SPINDLE’ VASES OF THE EMPERORS AUGUSTUS AND JULES CAESAR
Hard porcelain from the Manufacture Impériale de Sèvres
Painted by Jean-Marie Degault (active at the manufactory from 1808 to 1817)
Circa 1814
Height: 55 cm; width: 19.5 cm
Marks
Each cameo portrait is signed ‘JM Degault’.
On one: gold mark ‘AB’, monogram of Alexandre Brongniart, director of the Manufacture; green mark ‘13-AV-12’ for 13 April 1812; incised mark ‘DC’ and ‘10’.
On the other: green mark ‘15-J-11’ for 15 June 1811; incised mark ‘DC’.
Provenance
Vases commissioned by Napoleon I for the imperial palace of Monte Cavallo in Rome. They were finally delivered to Monsieur Rossini, director of the Royal Italian Theatre, on 15 October 1825.
Sold to Musée Napoléon Ier, Chateau de Fontainebleau, France
AN EXCEPTIONAL TRILOBED BASIN, BACILE BRONZO A TRE ANGOLI DECORATED ALL OVER WITH GROTESQUE DESIGNS ON A WHITE GROUND AROUND A CENTRAL MEDALLION DEPICTING THE GAULS REJOICING AT CAESAR’S DEFEAT OF THE HELVETII
ORAZIO FONTANA (1510 -1571) (workshop of)
OR FLAMINIO FONTANA (active 1571-1591) (workshop of)
URBINO (Italy)
Tin-glazed earthenware
Circa 1565-1575
Measurements: 46 x 42 x 4 cm
Provenance
Hopp aus Bogenhausen family, Munich (Germany).
Publication
Previously unpublished.
After
After a design commissioned by the Duke of Urbino from Taddeo or Federico Zuccaro
For the grotesque pattern, inspired by designs by Jacques Androuet I du Cerceau (1515-1585).
Similar model
A similar example of a slightly later date is in the collection of Franco Ercole (Italy). It is published in Timothy Wilson, The Golden Age of Italian Maiolica-Painting. Catalogue of a Private Collection, n.168 (attributed to the Fontana or Patanazzi workshop), 2018, Turin. Sold to  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
ICE PAIL WITH ELEPHANT-HEAD FROM THE DESSERT SERVICE “GOLD MARLY WITH GREY-PAINTED LAUREL LEAVES AND CAMEO-STYLE HEADS”: MERCURY AND PERSEUS
Sèvres Imperial manufactory of porcelain 1809
Hard-paste porcelain, enamels and gold
This ice pail, part of the “Marly d’Or with Grey-painted Laurel Leaves and Cameo-style Heads” dessert service, was a gift from Napoleon I to King Frederick I of Württemberg in 1809. Following the Austrian campaign, Frederick, a loyal ally, visited Paris and admired the service during a tour of the Sèvres Manufactory. Originally intended for another purpose, it was added to Napoleon’s diplomatic gifts as a token of friendship. Now part of a European private collection, it reflects the artistry of Sèvres and the political alliances of the era.
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ENGLISH FROG
Unrecorded plate from the "Frog Service" Made for Catherine the Great of Russia, Empress of Russia
Joshia Wegdwood
Etruria, Staffordshire, England
Circa 1773-1774
Creamware
Diam. 9 in; 23 cm
This 944-piece service was commissioned in 1773 by Catherine the Great from Josiah Wedgwood and Thomas Bentley. It features hand-painted British scenes and a green frog motif, referencing the intended palace. Despite a low price of £2,290 and minimal profit for Wedgwood, the service greatly enhanced the firm's reputation. Most pieces are now in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, with some acquired by the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM), Missouri, U.S.A. Provenance includes a French private collection and the Twinight Collection, New York.
IMPERIAL TEA-SET
Sèvres
Imperial manufactory of porcelain.
Hard porcelain, enamels, gold, silver-gilt
Portraits painted by Marie-Victoire Jaquotot, Pierre-André Le Guay and Jean Georget.
Circa 1812
Provenance
Acquired by Emperor Napoleon I in July 1812, this cabaret was offered by the Empress Marie-Louise to the Queen Mother on the occasion of New Year 1813.
American private collection
Twinight collection, New York
Musée Napoléon, Fontainebleau
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Located at Chateau Fontainebleau
Featured in Review of Museums of France
GOLDEN EGYPT TEA-SET
Sèvres
Imperial manufactory of porcelain
Hard porcelain, enamels and gold
Circa 1810-1812
The maiolica piece was gifted by Emperor Napoleon in 1813 to the Duchess of Montebello, widow of Marshal Jean Lannes. It passed through a private French collection, the Twinight collection in New York, and is now at the Musée Napoléon in Fontainebleau. Initially attributed to Angarano, it was later linked to Pavia, Lombardy, and identified as the work of Siro Antonio Africa (active 1686–1737), known for colorful capriccio views on maiolica. Its journey reflects its historical and artistic significance.
