256.
A POLYCHROME AND GILT ARMORIAL EWER
Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period, 1730 circa
26,5 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 3720.
The coat of arms on this ewer – three fleur-de-lis encircled by the Collar of the Order of Saint Michael with the cross symbol of the Order of the Holy Spirit pending and surmounted by a ducal crown, the Anchor of Admiral of the Fleet below – belongs to Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon (1725-1793), Duke of Penthièvre Châteuvillian and Rambouillet, Count of Tolouse, son of Louis XIV’s youngest legitimated son with Madame de Montespan. He became Admiral of the Royal Fleet in 1734, while in 1737 he obtained all his father’s titles. Even if Louis XV conferred upon him the Order of the Holy Spirit only in 1742, it was rather common for the European aristocracy members to include in their coat of arms all their insigna before obtaining them. For these reasons, this ewer – which shows clearly Yongzheng period stylistic features – was commissioned for the then very young Duke by his father (A. Lebel, Armoiries Françaises et Suisses sur la Porcelaine de Chine au XVIIIe siècle, Bruxelles 2009, pp. 48-49).
A dish with the Duke of Penthièvre’s coat of arms is illustrated by Beurdeley (M. Beurdeley, Porcelain of the East India Companies, London 1962, p. 198, n. 189, former Bondy collection); another similar dish is in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (inv. n. 37514.A), while a nearly identical ewer is in the Musée du Domaine départemental de Sceaux – Château de Sceaux.
