An early Sèvres Teapot and Cover (théière ‘Calabre‘), probably 1756-57
This exquisite early Sèvres théière ‘Calabre’, is decorated with colourful hand-painted bouquets and floral sprays, and gilt dentil rims. The handle and spout opening are both decorated with gilt lines, and the lower handle terminal is outlined with a gilt foliate design.
Marked with interlaced Ls, enclosing the probable date letter D for 1756-57, it bears the painter’s mark R. This is most likely to be for the painter Louis-François Raimond (Raymond), who is listed as a painter of flowers for the period 1756-57.
Provenance: With W.W. Warner Antiques, Brasted, Kent; an English Private Collection.
Condition: Excellent, with no damage or restoration. Four of the five strainer holes arranged in a diamond pattern, were apparently filled with glaze during production. There is a fully-glazed nick to the foot rim which occurred during manufacture and prior to glazing. The cover has a small loss to one of the little yellow leaves at the base of the flower knop, but is otherwise free of damage. There is some light kiln dust speckling and a tiny fault in the paste from manufacture to the underside of the cover. The cover does not sit entirely flush with the pot, something I have seen with other Sèvres teapots from the early period. The enamel and gilt decoration to both pot and cover is in good order, with very little wear at all, although there is some wear to the mark on the underside.
Dimensions: Height (to top of flower finial) 11.5 cm
French Porcelain: A Catalogue of the British Museum Collection, Aileen Dawson (British Museum Press, 2000).
French Porcelain of the Eighteenth Century, Christopher Maxwell (V&A Publishing, 2009).