CIRCA 1750, THE CHINESE PORCELAIN 18TH CENTURY, THE FLOWERS 18TH CENTURY AND LATER

The fashion for transforming exotic and expensive Chinese porcelain into true 'objets de luxe' with the addition of rich gilt-bronze mounts reached its zenith by the mid-18th century through the activities of marchands-mercier such as Lazare Duvaux. Several small candelabra of this type, incorporating porcelain figures glazed in turquoise as well as other colours, were sold by Duvaux. His Livre-Journal for 3 July 1755 records: 'S.M. le Roy: Envoyé à Compiègne deux paires de petites girandoles à deux branches, dorées d’or moulu, sur des magots bleu-céleste, avec des fleurs de Vincennes même couleur, 528 1'. In 1753 Duvaux billed Madame de Pompadour 192 livres for 'La monture en cuivre doré d’ or moulu, à feuillages & terraces, de deux girandoles sur des magots gres’, giving some indication of the rising cost and popularity of mounting such precious porcelain figures. Compositions also included European porcelain flowers, as with the pair of candelabra sold by Duvaux to M. de Fontaine, fermier-général, on 13 March 1756: ‘Une paire de girandoles à terrasses et branchages dorés d’or moulu sur des magots anciens bleu-céleste garnis de fleurs de Vincennes assorties, 264 l’.