Pair of Vases (Vases à tête d'éléphant)

The elephant vases, made in three sizes between 1756 and 1762, are among the rarest and most bizarre forms produced at Sèvres. These examples are distinguished by the pseudo-Asian, or chinoiserie, scenes painted by Charles-Nicolas Dodin. One represents the sense of smell and is derived from an engraving executed by Gabriel Huquier after François Boucher. The other represents the sense of hearing.

This pair of vases was likely first owned by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, known as Madame de Pompadour, the official chief royal mistress of Louis XV, the king of France.

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Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, Sèvres, France; purchased by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, Paris, February 7, 1762 [1]. Collection of Alfred de Rothschild, London, England, by 1884 [2]; inherited by Almina Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon, London, 1918; Almina, Countess of Carnarvon Sale, Christie Manson & Woods, London, May 21, 1925, no. 264; purchased by Leopold C. Davis, London, 1925 [3]; purchased by Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., New York, by 1926; purchased by Henry Walters, New York, 1926; inherited by Sarah (Sadie) Wharton Green Jones Walters (Mrs. Henry Walters), New York, 1931; Mrs. Henry Walters Collection Sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, April 26, 1941, no. 650; purchased by Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, 1941.

[1] Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, Archives, registre Vy 3, folio 115, "porcelaines livrées à Madame de Pompadour pendant l’année 1762, du 7 février: 2 vazes elephants rozes et verds chinois [porcelains delivered to Madame de Pompadour during the year 1762, on 7 February: 2 vases elephants pink and green Chinese]”.
[2] Charles Davis, A Description of the Works of Art Forming the Collection of Alfred de Rothschild, vol. 2 (London, 1884), no. 89.
[3] An annotated copy of the Almina, Countess of Carnarvon sale catalogue indicates lot 264, this pair of vases, was purchased by “L. Davis,” who is Leopold C. Davis (1877–1960), an art dealer in London and one of the three sons of the dealer Charles Davis (1849–1914). See Christie, Manson & Woods, “Catalogue of Fine French Furniture, Se`vres Porcelain and Objects of Art and Vertu, the Property of the Right Hon. Almina, Countess of Carnarvon Removed from 1 Seamore Place, W. To Whom They Were Bequeathed by the Late Alfred de Rothschild, Esq.,” sale cat., London, May 19–21, 1925, page 55, copy held by the University of California and available via the HathiTrust.