Tureen thumbnail 1
Tureen thumbnail 2
+5
images
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Europe 1600-1815, Room 3

Tureen

ca. 1750 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The following information about the Sinceny manufactory is based on the publication Histoire de la Faïence Française, Paris & Rouen by Dorothée Guillemé-Brulon.

In 1723 Jean-Baptiste Fayard inherited from his father the estate of Sinceny in northern France, situated about half-way between Paris and Rouen. Ten years later considerable deposits of clay were discovered there, suitable for making tin-glazed earthenware or faïence as this type of pottery is usually called in France. In 1737 Fayard obtained permission from the King to produce faïence and with the financial support of the banker Rémy Pernot du Buat he launched his enterprise. He employed a painter from Rouen, Denis-Pierre Pellevé to be the manufactory's director, and he brought the first wave of painters with him from Rouen, a city already famous for faïence production. This first period of production was somewhat unstable however, culminating with the departure of Pellevé himself in 1742. The second period, under the leadership of Mme. Fayard was more productive. She employed Pierre II Chapelle and a new wave of potters (all from Rouen) and also a new director from Lorraine, the faïence painter Léopold Malriat.

It is not surprising that the decoration on Sinceny faïence was initially very close in style to the wares produced in Rouen, given that many of the potters came from there. The early Asian-style decoration also found on some Sinceny is similar to that found on Japanese and St Cloud porcelains, probably due to the fact that examples of these wares are known to have been owned by the Fayard family and could have been lent to the potters to copy. Other more original chinoiserie scenes are also found and owe much to the engravings of Charles Huquier, published 1737-1738, as well as to more direct sources such as Chinese porcelain and Japanese lacquer. This tureen, with its dramatic scene of warriors hunting a dragon which completely fills the space, was probably inspired by an illustration from a Chinese epic war novel copied onto an original Chinese pot. Similar scenes are also found on contemporary Dutch tin-glazed earthenware made in Delft.

The fashion for chinoiseries continued at Sinceny until about 1765, although European-style decoration was also used alongside from the mid eighteenth century onwards and was ultimately to overtake chinoiseries in popularity during the final decades of the century.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Tureen Body
  • Tureen Cover
Materials and techniques
Tin-glazed earthenware, painted in colours
Brief description
Tin-glazed earthenware tureen and cover, painted in colours, made by Sinceny pottery factory, France, about 1750
Physical description
Low octagonal tureen, the cover painted with three Chinese warriors attacking a dragon with spears, the base painted with typical stylised flowers,
Dimensions
  • Whole width: 360mm
  • Tureen and cover height: 192mm
  • Whole depth: 277mm
Marks and inscriptions
'S' painted in black
Credit line
Bequeathed by Stuart Gerald Davis
Object history
Formerly in the collection of Lucien Lévy. Illustrated in Chompret etc, Repertoire V, pl. 5. Exhibited at the Musée des Arts Decoratifs, 1932.
Acquisition type: Bequest
Production
Acquired as Sinceny. Illustrated Arthur Lane, French Faïence, 1948, pl. 30B, as Sinceny, mid-18th century. For a similar Sinceny tureen painted with a different subject see Dorothée Guillemé Brulon, Paris & Rouen - Sources et rayonnement, Histoire de la Faïence Francaise, Paris, 1998, p. 66.
Subjects depicted
Summary
The following information about the Sinceny manufactory is based on the publication Histoire de la Faïence Française, Paris & Rouen by Dorothée Guillemé-Brulon.

In 1723 Jean-Baptiste Fayard inherited from his father the estate of Sinceny in northern France, situated about half-way between Paris and Rouen. Ten years later considerable deposits of clay were discovered there, suitable for making tin-glazed earthenware or faïence as this type of pottery is usually called in France. In 1737 Fayard obtained permission from the King to produce faïence and with the financial support of the banker Rémy Pernot du Buat he launched his enterprise. He employed a painter from Rouen, Denis-Pierre Pellevé to be the manufactory's director, and he brought the first wave of painters with him from Rouen, a city already famous for faïence production. This first period of production was somewhat unstable however, culminating with the departure of Pellevé himself in 1742. The second period, under the leadership of Mme. Fayard was more productive. She employed Pierre II Chapelle and a new wave of potters (all from Rouen) and also a new director from Lorraine, the faïence painter Léopold Malriat.

It is not surprising that the decoration on Sinceny faïence was initially very close in style to the wares produced in Rouen, given that many of the potters came from there. The early Asian-style decoration also found on some Sinceny is similar to that found on Japanese and St Cloud porcelains, probably due to the fact that examples of these wares are known to have been owned by the Fayard family and could have been lent to the potters to copy. Other more original chinoiserie scenes are also found and owe much to the engravings of Charles Huquier, published 1737-1738, as well as to more direct sources such as Chinese porcelain and Japanese lacquer. This tureen, with its dramatic scene of warriors hunting a dragon which completely fills the space, was probably inspired by an illustration from a Chinese epic war novel copied onto an original Chinese pot. Similar scenes are also found on contemporary Dutch tin-glazed earthenware made in Delft.

The fashion for chinoiseries continued at Sinceny until about 1765, although European-style decoration was also used alongside from the mid eighteenth century onwards and was ultimately to overtake chinoiseries in popularity during the final decades of the century.
Bibliographic references
  • Arthur Lane, French Faïence, 1948, pl. 30B
  • Chefs-D'Oeuvre de la Faïence du Musée de Saint-Omer, 1988. See no. 198, p. 150 for a tureen of the same shape described as Rouen (or Sinceny), also with chinoiseries, about 1740-50
  • Dorothee Guillemé-Brulon. Histoire de la Faience Française, Paris & Rouen, Editions Massin, Paris 1998, see 66p. for a similar tureen decorated with chinoiseries,including large figures, an elephant and stylised plants.
Collection
Accession number
C.165&A-1951

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Record createdJune 7, 2004
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