Calabre Teapot (théière Calabre)

Calabre Teapot (théière Calabre)

LCSH: Porcelain, French—18th century—Pictorial works | Porcelain, French—Private collections | Porcelain, French—Sèvres—18th century—Slide collections | Sèvres porcelain—18th century—Pictorial works | Slides (Photography)—Private collections | Fritzsche, Ulrich—Art collections—Pictorial works | Ceramic tableware—France—18th century | Ceramic teapots—France—18th century | Gilding—France—18th century | Birds in art | Trees in art | Chappuis, Antoine-Joseph—Pictorial works

Getty AAT keywords: porcelain (material) | porcelain (visual works) | dinnerware | teapots | gilding-technique | porcelain painting (image-making) | trees | Aves (class)

35mm color slide of a Calabre teapot (Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory). The théière Calabre (Calabre teapot) was named in honor of Pierre Calabre, one of the factory’s shareholders, and later became “the most commonly made of all Sèvres teapots” (Dawson 1994, 101). This teapot has an unusual design, known as rose marbré (marbled pink): an overall pink ground color is overlaid with jagged lightning-bolts of textured gilding bordered in blue of varying tints, creating a dynamically marbled effect. At the center is a shaped white reserve with a brilliantly colored blue-and-red bird perched in a tree. The object is described in a Christie’s sale: “Oviform with ranunculus finial, loop handle and angled spout…. Given its rare small size, the present teapot would likely have formed part of a solitaire, matched with a cup and saucer on a small tray” (2010, no. 5353601). Fritzsche (2018) notes that this teapot is from the collection of Count Henry Costa de Beauregard, at whose house Marcel Proust was a frequent guest. On the bottom is the painter’s mark for Antoine-Joseph Chappuis, known as Chappuis aîné (the elder; 1743–87; active 1756– or 1761–87), who specialized in birds, landscapes, and flowers (Savill 1988, 3:1018–20; Tardy 1981, 532; Eriksen and De Bellaigue 1987, 158). The number 28 is handwritten on the slide.

See the Fritzsche Porcelain Exhibit for more details on marbled pink décor, Calabre teapots, Chappuis, and porcelain marks.

Fritzsche, Ulrich (creator of slide); D’Arms, Ted (photographer); Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (creator of object)

Seattle Art Museum Libraries

1761 (date of object)

July 1986 (date of slide)

Painter, Kirsten Blythe

These materials may be protected under copyright law and may only be used for educational, teaching, and learning purposes. If intended use is beyond these purposes, it is the sole responsibility of the user to obtain the appropriate copyright permissions.

application/jpg

English | French

still image

See Complete Bibliography for the Fritzsche Porcelain Collection

France

eighteenth century (dates CE)

slide, scanned using an Epson Perfection V600 Photo scanner at 3200 dpi.