Next Monday 2 March, FauveParis, an audacious and impertinent auction house in Paris, France, is organizing an auction named Quelles histoires ! (What a story!), in which it will offer a small travel through time over four centuries combining family anecdotes and great History.
On this occasion, FauveParis will unveil a rare Vincennes soft paste porcelain broth-bowl (écuelle ‘pour le Turc et plateau ovale a bord de relief), from the direct descendants of the Greek banker of the Sultan of Constantinople.
Between 1752 and 1755 some fifty shapes are specially created by the Vincennes manufacture for the Ottoman market, most certainly drawn by the goldsmith Jean-Claude Duplessis. Nine broth-bowls for the Turk appear in sales records and all were purchased by the marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux. It is highly possible that the one presented on March 2nd at FauveParis may have been purchased by the Count de Vergennes, Minister Plenipotentiary then Ambassador of France in Constantinople from 1755 to 1768, as a gift to Sultan Osman III (1699-1757).
For Cyrille Froissart expert in ancient ceramics for FauveParis: « this is probably part of the first Vincennes porcelain offered as diplomatic gifts, two years prior to the Sèvres porcelain services offered by Louis XV to Frederick V of Denmark and to Maria Theresa of Austria ».
Only two other broth-bowls and stands of the same shape and decoration are known today. The first is held at the Boston Museum in the Markus collection. The second was auctioned for £ 157,000
For Lucie-Eleonore Riveron, president of the auction house: « FauveParis with this significant rediscovery, the remarkable work of its expert and the attention given to the showcasing of the piece, takes to heart its role as a story-teller ».
