Vase and Cover
ca. 1839 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This vase in the Renaissance style is ornamented with cast plaques representing the four seasons inset into the foot. These reliefs and their bold strapwork frames are in that mannerist style which developed at Fontainebleau in the 1530. Round the edge of the lid are naturalistic bunches of grapes flanked by frogs, representing a synthesis of nineteenth-century naturalism and mannerist revival: frogs, lizards and snakes were conspicuous ingredients in contemporary imitations of Bernard Palissy's sixteenth-century pottery.
The vase was first shown at the Expostion des Produits de l'industrie in Paris in 1839. It was bought for £100 at the Great Exhibition, London, 1851, by the committee charged with selecting objects from the Great Exhibition for a national collection which in due course became the South Kensington Museum (later named the Victoria and Albert Museum). For its display at the exhibition, the firm of Marrel Frères won a Council Medal, the highest honour. Included were a large gilt vase with a scene in 'oxidized' silver after Rubens, a neo-gothic hunting sword bought by the Government for £200, and a silver cup, The Revival of the Arts, which included among the illustrious persons depicted, Benvenuto Cellini, the hero of mid-nineteenth century goldsmiths.
'A beautiful vase...designed in the purest Venetian style, and most artistically executed throughout', stated the Art Journal. The only adverse contemporary criticism appears to have concerned the thinness of the ornament. The committee which recommended its acquisition described the vase as 'very elegant and playful in the general form, and well executed; the enamelled decoration, though rather thin in character, and in parts not well distributed, is beautifully drawn.'
John Charles Robinson (1824-1913), Curator of the Museum of Manufactures at Marlborough House Museum from 1853 and one of the greatest English connoisseurs and art scholars of his time, shared the committee's reservation:
'Although not an inelegant object, there is a certain thinness and poverty in the ornamentation, contrasting most forcibly, for instance with the massive richness of the previous example [a sixteenth-century chalice]. As a specimen of careful and dextrous workmanship, however, this leaves nothing to be desired; it is likewise in all its parts consistently treated in the true direction of the material. On the whole a more characteristic specimen of French taste in goldsmiths' work, as displayed in 1851, could not have been selected.'
The vase was first shown at the Expostion des Produits de l'industrie in Paris in 1839. It was bought for £100 at the Great Exhibition, London, 1851, by the committee charged with selecting objects from the Great Exhibition for a national collection which in due course became the South Kensington Museum (later named the Victoria and Albert Museum). For its display at the exhibition, the firm of Marrel Frères won a Council Medal, the highest honour. Included were a large gilt vase with a scene in 'oxidized' silver after Rubens, a neo-gothic hunting sword bought by the Government for £200, and a silver cup, The Revival of the Arts, which included among the illustrious persons depicted, Benvenuto Cellini, the hero of mid-nineteenth century goldsmiths.
'A beautiful vase...designed in the purest Venetian style, and most artistically executed throughout', stated the Art Journal. The only adverse contemporary criticism appears to have concerned the thinness of the ornament. The committee which recommended its acquisition described the vase as 'very elegant and playful in the general form, and well executed; the enamelled decoration, though rather thin in character, and in parts not well distributed, is beautifully drawn.'
John Charles Robinson (1824-1913), Curator of the Museum of Manufactures at Marlborough House Museum from 1853 and one of the greatest English connoisseurs and art scholars of his time, shared the committee's reservation:
'Although not an inelegant object, there is a certain thinness and poverty in the ornamentation, contrasting most forcibly, for instance with the massive richness of the previous example [a sixteenth-century chalice]. As a specimen of careful and dextrous workmanship, however, this leaves nothing to be desired; it is likewise in all its parts consistently treated in the true direction of the material. On the whole a more characteristic specimen of French taste in goldsmiths' work, as displayed in 1851, could not have been selected.'
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Silver, parcel-gilt, translucent enamel and garnets |
| Brief description | Silver, parcel-gilt, decorated with translucent enamel and garnets, Paris, ca.1839, made by Marrel Frères. |
| Physical description | This silver vessel, consistently described as a vase in both French and English, is in the form of a covered cup, predominantly gilt. The foot is ornamented with cast and chased silver plaques representing the four seasons. Four silver putti form the knop of the stem of the bowl. Round the edge of the cover are naturalistic bunches of grapes flanked by frogs. The cover is surmounted by a silver putto blowing a horn and holding a shield (intended for arms, but not engraved). Vase and cover are decorated with arabesques in blue translucent enamel and set with cabochon garnets mounted inside applied cartouches. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Object history | The vase was first shown at the Expostion des Produits de l'industrie in Paris in 1839. It was bought for £100 at the Great Exhibition, London, 1851, by the committee charged with selecting objects from the Great Exhibition for a national collection which in due course became the South Kensington Museum (later named the Victoria and Albert Museum). |
| Historical context | The Marrel brothers came from the south-east of France, possibly attracted by their uncle who was a jeweller in Paris. Jean-Pierre registered a mark in 1833. His brother furnished models. They exhibited for the first time in 1839, showing jewels and objects in the Neo-Renaissance style, and were awarded a gold medal. They won commissions from the royal family. They received a Council Medal at the Great Exhibition, and J.-P. Marrel received the Légion d'honneur. Afterwards their partnership ended. Benoît made medals, while his brother continued their previous business, working with his son, but he left the partnership before the Paris 1867 exhibition where the firm exhibited successfully. |
| Summary | This vase in the Renaissance style is ornamented with cast plaques representing the four seasons inset into the foot. These reliefs and their bold strapwork frames are in that mannerist style which developed at Fontainebleau in the 1530. Round the edge of the lid are naturalistic bunches of grapes flanked by frogs, representing a synthesis of nineteenth-century naturalism and mannerist revival: frogs, lizards and snakes were conspicuous ingredients in contemporary imitations of Bernard Palissy's sixteenth-century pottery. The vase was first shown at the Expostion des Produits de l'industrie in Paris in 1839. It was bought for £100 at the Great Exhibition, London, 1851, by the committee charged with selecting objects from the Great Exhibition for a national collection which in due course became the South Kensington Museum (later named the Victoria and Albert Museum). For its display at the exhibition, the firm of Marrel Frères won a Council Medal, the highest honour. Included were a large gilt vase with a scene in 'oxidized' silver after Rubens, a neo-gothic hunting sword bought by the Government for £200, and a silver cup, The Revival of the Arts, which included among the illustrious persons depicted, Benvenuto Cellini, the hero of mid-nineteenth century goldsmiths. 'A beautiful vase...designed in the purest Venetian style, and most artistically executed throughout', stated the Art Journal. The only adverse contemporary criticism appears to have concerned the thinness of the ornament. The committee which recommended its acquisition described the vase as 'very elegant and playful in the general form, and well executed; the enamelled decoration, though rather thin in character, and in parts not well distributed, is beautifully drawn.' John Charles Robinson (1824-1913), Curator of the Museum of Manufactures at Marlborough House Museum from 1853 and one of the greatest English connoisseurs and art scholars of his time, shared the committee's reservation: 'Although not an inelegant object, there is a certain thinness and poverty in the ornamentation, contrasting most forcibly, for instance with the massive richness of the previous example [a sixteenth-century chalice]. As a specimen of careful and dextrous workmanship, however, this leaves nothing to be desired; it is likewise in all its parts consistently treated in the true direction of the material. On the whole a more characteristic specimen of French taste in goldsmiths' work, as displayed in 1851, could not have been selected.' |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 160&A-1851 |
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| Record created | March 11, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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