Berlin Pair of crater-shaped porcelain vases named... Lot 260

Berlin Pair of crater-shaped porcelain vases named Redensche Vase No. 0 decorated with low relief bisque portraits of Duke de Feltre and his brother-in-law Etienne d'Hastrel de Rivedoux and on the reverse side of their coat of arms in medallions on an orange background decorated in brown and gold with a lictor's beam and on the other side an owl surrounded by branches of ivy and framed by a braid decorated in brown on a gold background with eagles and palmettes, the lower part and the handles decorated with lotus leaves on a gold background in the Egyptian style, the upper edge, the pedestal and the base with a green background imitating marble with gold decoration of laurel leaves and braid. Empire period. Height 29.5 cm. The portraits represented on these vases and the corresponding coat of arms are one of Henri-Jacques-Guillaume Clarke (1765-1818), future Duke of Feltre, lieutenant-colonel under the Directory, supporter of Bonaparte under the Consulate, appointed Governor of Berlin in 1806 after the victory of Jena. His coat of arms is Gules with three swords Argent hilt palewise Or pointing towards the chief. The other portrait depicts the brother-in-law of the Duke of Feltre, Etienne d'Hastrel de Rivedoux (1766-1846), a soldier appointed provisional Chief of General Staff of the German army on 26 February 1811. His coat of arms is Azure, with a chevron Or between two knurls in chief and a greyhound's head Argent gorged with a collar Gules and curled Or in base. These vases were most probably made in Berlin between 1806 and 1808, during the French occupation, when the Berlin factory was placed under French administration. A few weeks after the invasion, two Berlin porcelain cups decorated with a portrait of Napoleon and a bust of the Emperor were sent to Empress Josephine. A botanical service is also made for Josephine. In 1807, Pierre Auguste Hulin, a French Major General, commander of the occupying forces between 1806 and 1807, orders a vase from the Berlin m