Plaque
1765 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This painted porcelain plaque was made by Sèvres, the French royal porcelain factory, which became the leading European porcelain manufacturer in the second half of the 18th century. Some plaques were mounted on furniture as an alternative to marquetry decoration, while others, including this one, were treated like paintings and framed and hung on a wall. Many painted plaques featured military, marine or pastoral scenes, usually based on print sources.
Jacques Dominique de Barberi, the marquis de Courteille was appointed by Louis XV as Intendant des Finances, overseeing the running of the Sèvres factory from 1751 to his death in 1767. One of many gifts given to the marquis de Courteille by the Sèvres porcelain factory, this unusual plaque commemorates the birth of his grandchild. It depicts an intimate family scene, while also offering a valuable insight into the decoration of an eighteenth-century French interior. The marquis de Courteille is seated in the foreground; his daughter, Mme de Rochechouart, is in bed, attended by a female visitor and a servant. The plaque includes delightful details such as the young girl feeding sweets to a parrot.
The plaque was painted by Charles Nicolas Dodin, a celebrated Sèvres enamel painter who specialised in figural decoration. The Sèvres factory marked its porcelain with date letters that record the year of production. Mme de Rochechouart married in October 1764 and the plaque was produced the following year when her baby was born and is marked with an 'M' for 1765. On the reverse is a later inscription describing the composition and recording that the newborn child died of a fever at the age of 25 in 1790.
Jacques Dominique de Barberi, the marquis de Courteille was appointed by Louis XV as Intendant des Finances, overseeing the running of the Sèvres factory from 1751 to his death in 1767. One of many gifts given to the marquis de Courteille by the Sèvres porcelain factory, this unusual plaque commemorates the birth of his grandchild. It depicts an intimate family scene, while also offering a valuable insight into the decoration of an eighteenth-century French interior. The marquis de Courteille is seated in the foreground; his daughter, Mme de Rochechouart, is in bed, attended by a female visitor and a servant. The plaque includes delightful details such as the young girl feeding sweets to a parrot.
The plaque was painted by Charles Nicolas Dodin, a celebrated Sèvres enamel painter who specialised in figural decoration. The Sèvres factory marked its porcelain with date letters that record the year of production. Mme de Rochechouart married in October 1764 and the plaque was produced the following year when her baby was born and is marked with an 'M' for 1765. On the reverse is a later inscription describing the composition and recording that the newborn child died of a fever at the age of 25 in 1790.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Soft-paste porcelain painted in enamels, in a carved gilt wood frame |
| Brief description | Plaque of soft-paste porcelain painted in enamels with an interior scene showing the birth of the daughter of Mme. de Rochechouart, in a carved gilt wood frame, painted by Charles-Nicolas Dodin, Sèvres porcelain factory, France, 1765. |
| Physical description | Plaque of soft-paste porcelain in a carved gilt wood frame, painted in colours with an interior scene showing a group visiting a small baby. It probably represents the birth of the grandchild of the marquis de Courteille, Director of the Royal Manufactory of Sèvres. To the left is a large bed with a white counterpane and eiderdown. The bed's backboard and seat furniture are of white carved wood upholstered in a pink and white fabric, the same used for the bed drapes. The female figure in bed probably represents Mme de Rochechouart. She wears white linen trimmed with lace and pink ribbons, and holds the baby wrapped in swaddling. She is attended by a woman dressed in formal blue attire, and a female servant, dressed in plain brown linen with a cap in white lace tied with green ribbon. A male figure, probably the marquis de Courteille, is depicted in the foreground wearing a banyan, his head covered with a white turban tied with purple ribbon. To the right, a marble fire surround contains a lit fire, with a pink cord and pair of bellows visible at the side. On the mantel is a white candlestick, a yellow flower, and a large overmantel mirror with a carved gilt-wood frame, with an elaborate carved gilt-wood candle holder to the side. A young girl stands by the fireplace, feeding a green parrot from a box of dragéesweets. Three round straw boxes tied with blue ribbons and some dragées lie on the parquet floor in the foreground. There is a partially illegible inscription, hand-written in ink, on the reverse of the plaque, which describes the painted decoration. |
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| Object history | The inscription on the reverse of the plaque was added later, at an unknown date, and its contents may not be entirely accurate. The panel probably represents Madame de Rochechouart after the birth of her daughter, a grandchild of Jacques-Dominique de Barberi, marquis de Courteille and Director of the royal manufactory of Sèvres. It is listed in the inventory of de Courteilles' possessions drawn up after his death in 1767 (10 November 1767, Archives Nationales, Minutier Central, Etude L1, Liasse 1053), described as being in a study overlooking the garden, '208 Un tableau de porcelaine de Sève représentant une femme en Couche dans sa bordure de bois doré prisé 24 livres.' The inscription refers to the seated woman dressed in blue as Mme. de Courteille, however her more formal attire, that of the little girl by the mantelpiece, and the dragées sweets in the foreground suggest they may be visitors come to see the new baby. Mme de Rochechouart married in October 1764 and the piece was produced in 1765. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | This painted porcelain plaque was made by Sèvres, the French royal porcelain factory, which became the leading European porcelain manufacturer in the second half of the 18th century. Some plaques were mounted on furniture as an alternative to marquetry decoration, while others, including this one, were treated like paintings and framed and hung on a wall. Many painted plaques featured military, marine or pastoral scenes, usually based on print sources. Jacques Dominique de Barberi, the marquis de Courteille was appointed by Louis XV as Intendant des Finances, overseeing the running of the Sèvres factory from 1751 to his death in 1767. One of many gifts given to the marquis de Courteille by the Sèvres porcelain factory, this unusual plaque commemorates the birth of his grandchild. It depicts an intimate family scene, while also offering a valuable insight into the decoration of an eighteenth-century French interior. The marquis de Courteille is seated in the foreground; his daughter, Mme de Rochechouart, is in bed, attended by a female visitor and a servant. The plaque includes delightful details such as the young girl feeding sweets to a parrot. The plaque was painted by Charles Nicolas Dodin, a celebrated Sèvres enamel painter who specialised in figural decoration. The Sèvres factory marked its porcelain with date letters that record the year of production. Mme de Rochechouart married in October 1764 and the plaque was produced the following year when her baby was born and is marked with an 'M' for 1765. On the reverse is a later inscription describing the composition and recording that the newborn child died of a fever at the age of 25 in 1790. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 400-1872 |
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| Record created | August 29, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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