Dalva Brothers Antiques, Antique Furniture, New York

French 18th century furniture, clocks, lighting, paintings, porcelain, sculpture and tapestries

Fine and very rare Sèvres chinoiserie and arabesque decorated coffee can and saucer (goblet litron et soucoupe.) The cobalt blue ground is overlaid with a very unusual thick blue-green matte glaze with a slight luster. Luster glazes are very rare at Sèvres. The decorative scenes were apparently created by applying glaze onto an already fired dark blue glaze. The soft unfired upper glaze was then scraped away where the dark blue design was meant to be. A wax resist may have been used to shield some areas; the resist would have vanished during the second firing.

A central oval panel on the cup is decorated with a seated figure in a landscape with gilded accents on a blue ground; arabesques on a green ground wrap around the body and terminate at the handle.

The saucer is decorated with green ground arabesques and leafage connecting two oval panels each showing a figure in a landscape with a bird on a blue ground. The center of the saucer is decorated with an elaborate spiral rosette with leafage. [The gilded accent lines in the cup reserve are possibly added later.]

Crowned Sèvres marks for hard paste.

Decorator’s mark “LG” – LeGuay

Height of cup - 2¼"      Diameter saucer - 4¾"