Object Information
Londonderry Vase, 1813
Hard-paste porcelain, gilding, ormolu mounts
Height: 137.2 cm (54 in.)
Mark: Sevres mark for 1813-1815; (in gold) 30 Mars B. T. Drouet, 1813
Gift of The Harry and Maribel G. Blum Fund and the Harold L. Stuart Endowment, 1987.1
The Londonderry Vase was one of the most ambitious undertakings of the imperial porcelain manufactory at Sèvres. With its commanding contours, monumental size, symmetrical decorations, and unabashed splendor, the vase is a superb example of the Empire style, inspired by Roman imperial art. Designed while Napoleon was emperor by his chief architect Charles Percier but produced after the Restoration, it was presented by Louis XVIII to the second marquess of Londonderry on the eve of the 1814 Congress of Vienna.
Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories
Exhibition History
Londonderry Vase
(Vase étrusque à rouleaux), 1813
France, Sèvres
Designed by Charles Percier (French, 1764-1838)
Decoration Designed by Alexandre Theodore Brongniart (d. 1813)
Painted by Gilbert Drouet, flowers and ornament, (1785-1825)
and Christopher Ferdinand Caron, birds, (active 1792-1815)
Manufactured by Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Hard-paste porcelain, gilding, ormolu mounts
Gift of The Harry and Maribel G. Blum Fund and the Harold L. Stuart Endowment
1987.1
This extraordinary vase represents the great achievements of the Sèvres factory during the Napoleonic period. Napoleon himself recognized the political potential of Sèvres porcelain in providing sumptuous gifts which would demonstrate the supremacy of French craftsmanship. This vase exhibits some of the finest floral decoration of the period.
Originally commissioned by Napoleon around 1805, the vase was not released by the factory until 1814, after he had been exiled. The vase was used as a diplomatic gift by the newly restored Bourbon King, Louis XVIII, when he ordered his foreign minister, Talleyrand (1754-1838), to present it to the English Viscount Castlereagh, second marquis of Londonderry, on the eve of the Congress of Vienna.
Publication History
TIMELINE TRACING THE DEVELOPMENTS OF CERAMICS, Degree project for Art Education at The University of Arizona, 1993