Lot n° 104
Estimation :
400 - 800
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 1 600EUR
BRUSSELS, LOUIS CRETTÉ MANUFACTURE. - Lot 104
BRUSSELS, LOUIS CRETTÉ MANUFACTURE.
Oval, tub-shaped butter dish with lid on an attached hard-paste porcelain tray; the lid handle is adorned with a small coiled serpent, from the “Birds” service for the First Consul, featuring polychrome and gold decoration depicting a bird on two sides, with an inscription at the top within a medallion “The Sparrowhawk” and “Cayenne Teal” within a border of foliage and rows of gold beads.
Marked on the bottom in red: L. Cretté a Brux and the numbers 17 & 18.
H: 10.5 x W: 22 x D: 14.5 cm
Circa 1802–1803.
Slight wear on the gold.
Bibliography and related works, see:
-Jean Lemaire, Faïence et porcelaine de Bruxelles, Éditions Racine 2003, pages 124
& 125.
-Marieke de Baerdemaeker, Claire Dumortier, Patrick Habets. Brussels Porcelain. The “Birds” Service for the First Consul. Namur: Les éd. Namuroises, 2025.
Provenance: butter dish from the so-called “First Consul Bonaparte” service, consisting of nearly 1,100 pieces, created in Year XI (1802–1803) by the Brussels porcelain manufactory directed by Louis Cretté (1758–1813).
In 1803, Cretté wished to take advantage of First Consul Bonaparte’s visit to Belgium to showcase the quality of his factory and secure orders from the new French regime. To flatter the head of state’s wife, the future Empress Joséphine, Louis Cretté created a service decorated with exotic birds based on Buffon’s *Natural History*. Only part of this service was presented to the First Consul during his visit to Liège on August 3, 1803.
Since the hoped-for sale never materialized, the service was dispersed among private and public collections; a large portion is now housed at the Maison du Roi on the Grand-Place in Brussels.
Expert for this lot: Aline Josserand
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