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Wall Fountain and Basin

A work made of tin-glazed earthenware and polychrome enamels.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of tin-glazed earthenware and polychrome enamels.

Date:

c. 1755

Artist:

Sceaux Faience Manufactory (French, 1748-1810)
France, Sceaux

About this artwork

This fountain, sculpted in high relief and painted in bright enamel colors, exemplifies both the ambitions of the pottery established at Sceaux, south of Paris, and the exuberance of the Rococo style of mid-18th-century France. A triton (a mythological sea deity resembling a merman), a nymph, and a scampering child pose on a rocky, shell-encrusted outcrop that projects over a dolphin-like sea creature from whose open mouth water flowed. Underneath, a large shell-shaped basin enriched with reeds and bulrushes, supported by rockwork and another sea monster, receives the water that streamed from above. The shell and reed decoration, characteristic of the Rococo, here also reinforces the aquatic theme of the piece.

A pottery had existed at Sceaux from around 1739, but it only truly prospered after the arrival of Jacques Chapelle as director in 1749. Chapelle seems to have had ambitions to produce porcelain at Sceaux but was prohibited by the state from embarking on this project, so as not to compete with the newly established porcelain manufactory at Vincennes. Forced to work in faience (the French term for tin-glazed earthenware) instead, he encouraged his workers to experiment with forms and color in order to create works that could rival porcelain.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Applied Arts of Europe

Artist

Sceaux Pottery and Porcelain Factory (Maker)

Title

Wall Fountain and Basin

Place

Sceaux (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1750–1760

Medium

Tin-glazed earthenware and polychrome enamels

Inscriptions

Mark: crowned fleur-de-lis in manganese above crossed feathers

Dimensions

Fountain: 47.7 × 39.4 × 26.7 cm (18 3/4 × 15 1/2 × 10 1/2 in.); Basin: 23.9 × 44.5 × 39.1 cm (9 3/8 × 17 1/2 × 15 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Kay and Frederick Krehbiel, Harry and Maribel G. Blum, Michael A. Bradshaw and Kenneth S. Harris, Annette M. Chapin, Richard T. Crane, Jr., Memorial, and European Decorative Arts endowment funds; through prior acquisition of Mrs. Harold T. Martin

Reference Number

2002.12a-b

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/158981/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.

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