Mounted Vase [1 of 2]

This pair of Meissen vases are decorated with figural scenes based on the works of the French rococo painter Antoine Watteau (1684-1721). Such vases with Watteau subjects were produced only in limited numbers. Meissen porcelain was highly prized in Paris during the 1740s, when the French royal porcelain manufactory was just getting started at Vincennes. The importance of these vases has been highlighted by the addition in Paris of gilt-bronze mounts. It is likely that a Parisian dealer (marchand mercier) acquired the Meissen vases and had them mounted for sale to a prestigious French client. The dealer Lazare Duvaux is documented as selling one such vase, "of Meissen porcelain painted with Watteau subjects, mounted with gilt bronze", to Madame de Pompadour in 1750.