SEVRES Pair of German covered cassolette vases... Lot 9

SEVRES Pair of German covered cassolette vases in soft porcelain resting on a fluted pedestal, with two handles in the form of scrolls enhanced with gold combed, with polychrome decoration on one side of gallant couples in the style of Lancret and on the reverse side of bunches of flowers in oval reserves on a new blue background, the groove with flutes enhanced with gold, the upper rim decorated with a row of pearls in relief Mark in hollow: cd and cd2 attributed to the modeler Michel-Dorothé Coudray or Ducoudray The painting of the figures by Charles Eloi Asselin. 18th century, circa 1768-70. H. 17,5 cm, L. 22 cm, prof. 18 cm. Restored cracks on three handles, a very small chip to one lid, the other lid reassorted in Worcester porcelain in the 19th century bearing the inscription in red Chamberlain Worcester & 155 New Bond Street London. Provenance: Edward Lascelles (1740-1820), then by descent 7th Earl of Harewood (1923-2011), Harewood House, Yorkshire , Sale Christie's London, Highly Important Sèvres Porcelain, 1st July 1965, lot 27 , sold to Blundell, H. Tait, 'Sèvres Porcelain in the Collection of the Earl of Harewood, Part II : The Middle Period : 1760-1775', in Apollo, vol. LXXXI, January 1965, p. 27, fig. 11 (the vases reproduced). M. Brunet and T. Préaud, Sèvres des origines à nos jours, Fribourg, 1978, p. 167, n. 130 (one of the vases reproduced). R. Savill, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, vol. I, London, 1988, p. 266, n. f. Michel-Dorothé Coudrayou Ducoudray, was a modeller active at the Sèvres factory between 1753 and 1775. The shape of these vases was modelled by Jean-Claude Duplessis Père (1699-1774). The archives of the manufacture of Sèvres preserve the model in plaster reproduced by Albert Troudei and entitled German vase united. This name does not appear in the registers of sales nor in the inventories of the manufacture in the XVIIIth century and it is probable that the appellation cassolette was originally employed to indicate this form. The inventory of the stock of the manufacture drawn up on January 1, 1774 mentions a green cassolette children taken 432 livres. It is perhaps one of the two cassolette vases forming a pair with a green background decorated with loves now kept in the Wallace Collection and dated 1765. A few rare examples of this form are known: a pair with a celestial blue background decorated with landscapes, dated 1773, were in the former Oscar Düsendschön collection in Geneva, now in the Paris tradeiv, another pair decorated with seascapes on a celestial blue background in the Henri Fordv collection, and finally a pair with a new blue background decorated with loves on clouds and wreaths of flowers on a new blue background. The Sèvres porcelain collection at Harewood Castle was assembled by Edward, Viscount Lascelles (1764-1814), son of Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood and Anne Chaloner. He died without issue at the age of 50 on 3 June 1814. The Viscount de Lascelles bought his Sèvres porcelains in Paris after the Peace of Amiens in 1802 and also in London, notably at the auction of the Countess of Holderness' collection by Christie's on 26 February 1812. His collection was probably also enriched by porcelain gifts from George IV, with whom he shared a passion for French porcelain, as evidenced by the two pairs of blue- and bird-bottomed tomb bowls that belonged to Madame du Barry and are now mixed between the English royal collections and Harewood House (Geoffrey de Bellaigue, French Porcelain in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, 2009, Vol. I, No. 9, pp. 115-117). The two cassolettes appear in several Harewood inventories, including one dated 1892: "A pair of cassolette shaped Sèvres vases and covers on loose stands, blue-du-roi ground with gilding , in front panel painted with Boucher subjects of two figures in a garden, on the reverse flowers. One cover in Worcester china made to match. Height 9 in. In 1922, Princess Mary (1897-1965), daughter of King George V (1865-1936), married the 6th Earl of Harewood. Shortly after Princess Mary's death, part of the Vincennes and Sèvres porcelain collection was presented by Christie's in London during an exceptional sale on July 1, 1965. This was an opportunity for the Musée du Louvre to significantly enrich the collections of the Department of Decorative Arts with Sèvres vases. In January 1965, Hugh Tait reproduced the two cassolettes in an article devoted to the masterpieces of Sèvres porcelain in the collection of the 7th Earl of Harewood. The decoration was attributed to Charles-Nicolas Dodin (1734-1803). One of the two cassolettes is also reproduced by Marcelle Brunet and Tamara Préaud, Sèvres des origines à nos jours, 1978, p. 167, notice 130. 1 Albert Troude, Choix de Modèles de la Manufactu