Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Sugar Bowl and Cover1812-1813

Not on view

Gilded porcelain covered urn with cream body, lion-mask handles, and a central oval medallion painted with white, blue, and pink flowers

Porcelain covered urn with polished gold ground, featuring a central oval panel painted with yellow, red, and pink flowers; gilt-etched foliate scrollwork flanking lion-head handles, and a pointed finial on the domed lid.

Manufacturer: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
France, Sèvres, established 1756
Painter: Georgius J. Van Os
Holland, active France, 1782-1861
Title: Sugar Bowl and Cover
Place Made: France
Date Made: 1812-1813
Medium: Porcelain with enamel, gilding, and glaze
Credit Line: William Randolph Hearst Collection
Accession Number: 49.13.5.3a-b
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: Floral still-life painting reached its peak of popularity in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century. This still-life tradition was kept alive into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by Dutch and Flemish artists living in Paris. Among them was Georgius Jacobus Johannes van Os, the son and brother of well-known Dutch artists. After establishing a successful practice in Amsterdam, van Os moved to Paris, where between 1811 and 1815, and again from 1820 to 1822, he worked at the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory as a specialist painter of flowers on porcelain. Van Os decorated each piece in this sumptuous tea service (see also 49.13.5.1, .2a-b, .4, .5a-b, and .6a-b) with finely observed flowers. Such gilded and hand-painted porcelain required great technical skill during firing to preserve the intricate design. The early nineteenth century saw a revival of interest in Dutch and Flemish still-life painting and a general preference for such highly refined technique. These trends coincided with the determination of the Sèvres factory director, Alexandre Brongniart, to promote the broad range of enamel colors he had perfected.

The tea service has an illustrious history. It was commissioned in 1813 by Napoleon and Empress Marie-Louise as a New Year’s gift for Napoleon’s sister Pauline Bonaparte, Princess Borghese.
Selected Bibliography: Hopkins, Henry T., ed. Illustrated Handbook of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. West Germany: Bruder Hartmann, 1965.

Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Sugar Bowl and Cover1812-1813

Not on view

Manufacturer: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
France, Sèvres, established 1756
Painter: Georgius J. Van Os
Holland, active France, 1782-1861
Title: Sugar Bowl and Cover
Place Made: France
Date Made: 1812-1813
Medium: Porcelain with enamel, gilding, and glaze
Credit Line: William Randolph Hearst Collection
Accession Number: 49.13.5.3a-b
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: Floral still-life painting reached its peak of popularity in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century. This still-life tradition was kept alive into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by Dutch and Flemish artists living in Paris. Among them was Georgius Jacobus Johannes van Os, the son and brother of well-known Dutch artists. After establishing a successful practice in Amsterdam, van Os moved to Paris, where between 1811 and 1815, and again from 1820 to 1822, he worked at the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory as a specialist painter of flowers on porcelain. Van Os decorated each piece in this sumptuous tea service (see also 49.13.5.1, .2a-b, .4, .5a-b, and .6a-b) with finely observed flowers. Such gilded and hand-painted porcelain required great technical skill during firing to preserve the intricate design. The early nineteenth century saw a revival of interest in Dutch and Flemish still-life painting and a general preference for such highly refined technique. These trends coincided with the determination of the Sèvres factory director, Alexandre Brongniart, to promote the broad range of enamel colors he had perfected.

The tea service has an illustrious history. It was commissioned in 1813 by Napoleon and Empress Marie-Louise as a New Year’s gift for Napoleon’s sister Pauline Bonaparte, Princess Borghese.
Selected Bibliography: Hopkins, Henry T., ed. Illustrated Handbook of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. West Germany: Bruder Hartmann, 1965.