A Saint-Cloud Knife and Fork, circa 1700-20
The early cannon-shaped hafts are attractively painted in underglaze blue with Renaissance-inspired lambrequin designs loosely derived from the broderie ornaments of the designer Jean Berain (1640-1711) and his followers. The ends of the hafts are painted with a stylised flower head. Steel fittings, and silver ferrules and decorative flower head caps. The blade has a cutler’s mark, and the fork has two tines on a baluster stem.
Provenance: An English Private Collection.
Condition: The knife is perfect; the fork haft has a 4 cm hairline. No other damage and no restoration.
Dimensions: Knife length 22.2 cm (including blade); Fork length 20.2 cm (including tines)
Discovering the Secrets of Soft-Paste Porcelain at the Saint-Cloud Manufactory, c.1690-1766, Bertrand Rondot, Ed. (BGC / Yale, 1999).
French Porcelain: A Catalogue of the British Museum Collection, Aileen Dawson (British Museum Press, 2000).
Cutlery: From Gothic to Art Deco – The J. Hollander Collection, Jan van Trigt (Petraco-Pandora NV, 1999).