Important PAIR OF COVERED VASES with VERNET MARINES in polychrome enamelled white porcelain, gold highlights and ormolu ornamentation. Each of the lids is topped by a love holding an arrow. The rim decorated with foliage, floral motifs and geometric...

Important PAIR OF COVERED VASES with VERNET MARINES in polychrome enamelled white porcelain, gold highlights and ormolu ornamentation. Each of the lids is topped by a love holding an arrow. The rim decorated with foliage, floral motifs and geometric shapes supports two large handles that follow the silhouette of the vase to the belly. The long necks and bellies are decorated at the front with port scenes after Joseph Vernet inscribed in richly decorated cartouches. The back is decorated with stylised foliage and bouquets of flowers composed of different species, such as tulips and violets. The pedestals are enriched with a floral garland resting on bronze pedestals. Each of the lids reveals on the reverse the apocryphal inscription "Offered by His Highness the Regent of France to Princess Henrietta of England". Apocryphal mark with crossed swords. Second half of the 19th century. Height. 80 cm. (cracks and restorations). Pair of covered porcelain vases decorated with marines by Vernet. 19th century work. This important pair of covered porcelain vases from Paris, dating from the second half of the 19th century, appeals to a historical fantasy on the part of its author. On the back of each of the lids is inscribed: "offered by His Highness the Regent of France to Princess Henriette of England". It would therefore be a gift of quality for a royal recipient. However, this flattering mention must be accompanied by reservations, as the naval decorations by Joseph Vernet (1714-1789) cannot correspond to the life of the person for whom these vases were intended. The port of the eastern sea at sunrise, (Munich, Alte Pinakothek, 2348), which inspired the composition of one of the cartouches, was in fact commissioned in 1751 and dated 1755.Henriette of England died in 1670 while the Regent Philippe d'Orléans had died in 1723! The inverted composition between the painting and the port scene of this vase also proves that the decoration was painted after engravings published afterwards, and certainly in Saxony, as the Meissen cross sword mark would have us believe. In this sense, these vases bear particularly good witness to the historicist movement in the 19th century, which was based on historical truths... with some deviations. Automatically translated by DeepL. To see the original version, click here.