Large ornamental vase in soft-paste porcelain with a massive architectural base and molded goats’ heads at the ends; one of the earliest models of this form designed at Sèvres manufactory in the 1760s.
Credit
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. The Arabella D. Huntington Memorial Art Collection.
These three vases (27.31-27.32 and 27.37) are among the largest and most extravagant ever produced by the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory. The central vase (27.37) with goat-head handles is painted with a battle scene; the side vases (see object numbers 27.31-27.32), in the form of fortified towers, bear military trophies, garlands, and wreaths. These details suggest that the set was made for a military hero; perhaps, a veteran of the Seven Year’s War, which ended in 1763.