of oval shape, above a small fluted pedestal enhanced with gilding and raised egg and dart frieze below a body with gadrooning and a polychrome pastoral scene in an oval reserve the manner of Boucher to the front, with gallant couples in a landscape of flowers and foliage, the reverse with flower bouquets in oval reserves against a blue ground, with two scrolled handles and cover; no marks, incise mark cd and cd2 attributed to modeler Michel-Dorothé Coudray or Ducoudray; (restored cracks to three handles, one cover replaced during the early 19th century with Chamberlain Worcester porcelain)

Edward Lascelles (1740-1820), thence by descent to the 7^th Count of Harewood (1923-2011), Harewood House, Yorkshire;
Sale Christie's London, Highly Important Sèvres Porcelain, 1^st July 1965, lot 27 (illustrated) ; sold to Blundell;
Sale Christie's London, 1-2 December 2015, lot 91;
Private collection

H. Tait, 'Sèvres Porcelain in the Collection of the Earl of Harewood, Part II : The Middle Period : 1760-1775', in Apollo, vol. LXXXI, January 1965, p. 27, fig. 11 (the vases illustrated).
M. Brunet and T. Préaud, Sèvres des origines à nos jours, Fribourg, 1978, p. 167, n. 130 (one vase illustrated).
R. Savill, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, vol. I, London, 1988, p. 266, n. f.

The illustrations of the catalogue are accurate. Vase 1 (painted with a man wearing a purple jacket and a blue coat): Cover: There is a very tiny insignificant chip under the rim of the cover. Body: There is a restored haircrack at the base of one handle. There are four small areas of wears to the gilding of the fluted shoulder. Vase 2: Cover: The cover is an early 19th Worcester Chamberlain replacement. Good condition. Vase: There are restored haircracks at the base of both handles. There is no chips on the rim of the covers instead of what is written in the catalogue. Very beautiful shape and graceful decoration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Michel-Dorothé Coudray or Ducoudray, modeler active from 1753 to 1775.

The shape of the vase was modeled by Jean-Claude Duplessis the Elder (1699-1774). The Sèvres manufactory’s archives retained the plaster model produced during the late 19th century by Albert Troude (pl 114) [1] under the name of plain German vase. This name does not appear in the Sèvres Manufactory’s sale records and inventory during the 18th century and it is possible that the term cassolette was designated to describe this form during the 18th century. The inventory dated 1 January 1774 mentions 1 green cassolette vase with children priced at 432 livres [2]. This vase in their store in 1774 is perhaps one of the two perfume burners from a pair with a green ground, decorated with cupids and landscapes after Boucher, in the Wallace Collection in London and dated 1765 [3]. Few examples of this shape are known and a second pair of perfume burners with a celestial blue ground dated 1773 and decorated with landscapes and flowers, were in the former Oscar Düsendschön Collection in Geneva [4], a third pair with a celestial blue ground with a seascapes [5 ] and a fourth pair with blue nouveau ground d🥀ecorated with cupidౠs on clouds and entwined floral wreaths, are also listed. 

HAREWOOD HOUSE

The Sèvres p𒉰orcelain collection at Harewood House was amassed by Edward, Vi🐎scount Lascelles (1764-1814), son of Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood and Anne Chaloner, who died without descendants at the age of 50, on 3 June 1814.

He bought his Sèvres porcelains in Paris after the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, but also in London during the auction of the Countess of Holderness Collection at Christie's on 26 February 1812, where he purchased lot 20: ' a Pair of singularly elegant Couvettes, Seve Porcelaine, with high finished painting (Geoffrey de Bellaigue, French Porcelain in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, 2009, vol I, no. 7, p.111, note 1). His collection was probably also enriched by porcelain gifts offered by George IV with whom he shared his passion for French porcelain, as evidenced by the two pairs of à tombeau vases with blue ground and birds that had belonged to Madame du Barry and today dispersed between the Britis𒁏h Royal Collection and Harewood House (Geoffrey de Bellaigue, op.cit., vol I, no. 9, pp. 115-117).

The two perfume burners appear in several inventori🅘es, including one drawn up at Harewood House around 1892: "A pair of cassolette shaped Sèvres vases and covers on loose stands, blue-du-roi ground with gilding; in front panel painted with Boucher subjects of two figures in a garden, on the reverse flowers. One cover in Worcester china made to match. Height 9 in.". At that date, the inventory already mentions the replacement of the cover, probably made a few years earlier by the Worcester manufactory.

In 1922, Princess Mary (1897-1965) daughter of King George V (1865-1936), married the 6th Earl of Harewood . Shortly after Princess Mary’s death, part of the Vincennes-Sèvres porcelain collection was entrusted by the 7th Earl of Harewood (1923-2011) to Christie's for an exceptional auction in London on 1 July 1965. For the Louvre Museum, this sale was an opportunity to greatly enrich the decorative arts department with Sèvres vases. Some Sèvres vases from Harewood have recently resurfaced at auctions: a garniture of three à tombeau flower vases sold Sothe🌜by's Paris, 9 November 2010, lot 198).

In January 1965, Hugh Tait illustrated the two vases in one of his articles devoted to  Sèvres porcelain masterpieces from the 7th Earl of Harewood’s collection. The reserve decor was then attributed to Charles-Nicolas Dodin (1734-1803). One of our vases was also published by Marcelle Brunet and Tamara Préaud to illustrate the production of "plain German" form in their work titled Sèvres des origines à nos jours, (... from its origin💜 to our era) 1978, p. 167, notꦏice 130.

 [1] Albert Troude, Choix de Modèles de la Manufacture Nationale de Porcelaines de Sèvres appartenant au Musée céramique, Paris, s.d. (1897). Sèvres-Cité de la Cé🦩ramique, Archives Manufacture, Inv. de 1814 : 1740-1780 §1 n° 147.

 [2] Sèvres, Cité de la Céramique, Archive𓄧s M🌠anufacture, I 8.

 [3] Rosalind Savill, The Wall🍷ace Collec♓tion, catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, 1988 vol. In° C276-7, pp. 263-266)

 [4] Vente Sotheby & 🐼Co, Londres, le 6 décembre 1960, lot 66, repr.

 [5] Anciennꦗe collection Henry Ford II, Sotheby’s New York, le 25 février 1978, lot 42.