A Sèvres porcelain plate from the "service des pêches"
Model "assiette plate". The well filled with a finely painted scene of tuna fishing near Cannes labelled "Pêche du Thon à la Madrague.". The cavetto with sea creatures against a net pattern. The border painted with maritime trophies and gulls in flight amid coral branches. Inscribed to the reverse: "Une fois le Poisson réuini en assez grand nombre dans la chambre du fond, dite la mort, on en ferme la porte, toutes les embarquations se placent autour de ses parois et on relève les Filets." Signed below "L. Garneray". Blue stamped conjoined LP 1840 mark, green painter's mark D. Ier.fev. 39. S.F for Pierre Dérivière, gilt No=15.R.T and M for Jean-Louis Moyez, incised 39-3. D 24.3 cm.
1840, after a motif by Ambroise Louis Garneray.
The Service Pêches was first presented on 1st May 1840 as a set of seven plates with differing motifs. The plates are based on compositions by Ambroise Louis Garneray (1783 - 1857), a marine painter and engraver with an eventful life. His father was a pupil of Jacques Louis David, but the young Ambroise did not remain in France for long, joining the crew of a ship bound to India when he was just 13 years old. He was later captured by the British when sailing on the Belle Poule in 1806. He returned to France after the fall of Napoleon and there began a career as a painter that eventually led him to Sèvres, where his motifs were received with great enthusiasm. He signed a contract as a porcelain painter in October 1838 for the service marine. The “Pêches” service was later extended to include maritime fishing motifs and now included compote pots and shell-shaped dishes alongside the classic plates. The service remained in production until at least 1852.
Provenance
Christie´s London, 22nd March 1996, lot 251.
Literature
Wittwer (ed.) Raffinesse & Eleganz, Munich 2007, no. 142a.
Exhibitions
Raffinesse & Eleganz - Königliche Porzellane des frühen 19. Jahrhunderts aus einer amerikanischen Privatsammlung, Berlin, Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten, Schloss Charlottenburg, 28th July - 4th November 2007
Die Sammlung Cohen. Porzellane der grossen Manufakturen 1800 - 1840. Wien, Liechtenstein Museum, 16th November 2007 - 11th February 2008
Refinement & Elegance - Early 19th-Century Royal Porcelain from an American private collection, New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 9th September 2008 - 19th April 2009