About this artwork
This model is one of the more exotic forms created by Jean-Claude Duplessis. The elephants’ trunks originally supported double candle sockets that are now missing. The idea of combining elephant heads with a vase may have derived from a Ming dynasty Chinese vase or a Meissen candelabrum. The Sèvres painter Pierre-Louis-Philippe Armand accentuated the sensuous qualities of the elephants by framing their brown eyes with pink lids and long eyelashes.
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Status
- On View, Gallery 216
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Department
- Applied Arts of Europe
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Artist
- Jean-Claude Duplessis (Designer)
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Title
- Elephant Candelabrum Vase (Vase à Tête d'Eléphant)
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Place
- Sèvres (Object made in)
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Date
- 1757–1758
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Medium
- Soft-paste porcelain, polychrome enamels, and gilding
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Inscriptions
- Mark: interlaced L's enclosing letter E with dots above and below; "482" in red overglaze; incised on body on base: "MLi"
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Dimensions
- H.: 39.2 cm (15 7/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Joseph Maier and Arthur Lewis Liebman Memorial: Gift of Kenneth J. Maier, M.D.
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Reference Number
- 1986.3446
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/108575/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
