Monumental Sèvres Pink-Ground Vase with Winged Muse by Charles Barriat

#N-0121A: Monumental Sèvres Pink-Ground Vase with Winged Muse by Charles Barriat
By Sèvres (French, founded 1738)
French, dated 1872
Vase: height 153cm, diameter 76cm
Base: height 41cm, diameter 65cm
This vase pairs finely painted allegorical figures with richly gilded pink grounds, a product of the celebrated Sèvres manufactory. It was made at Sèvres and painted by Charles Barriat, whose signature and date it bears. Conceived on an exhibition scale, it takes the form of a baluster vase with a wide flaring neck, a full ovoid body and a spreading circular socle, raised on a cylindrical plinth.
The body is reserved on a white ground and painted on each side with a winged allegorical figure set amid naturalistic sprays of fruit and flowers. On one side, a winged personification in flowing pink classical drapery is shown against a burst of golden light, holding a sculptor's statuette in one hand and a gilded lyre in the other, an allegory of the Arts. Cherries, peaches, apricots, honeysuckle, columbine and ears of wheat, animated by butterflies, are painted around her with botanical precision.
The reverse presents a second winged figure in the same manner, holding a terrestrial globe and a pair of dividers, personifying the Sciences. Between and below the figures, plump putti reach up into the fruiting branches to gather cherries and peaches, their draperies caught by the wind.
The waisted neck and the socle foot are laid with a pink ground and decorated with gilt fruiting and foliate branches, framed by gilt laurel bands and line borders, while gilt lines edge the rim and mouldings. The painting is signed 'Barriat' and dated '1872'.
The underside bears the printed Sèvres factory mark, the incised mark 'S.69', a painted mark and further inventory numerals, confirming the manufacture. The vase stands on a cylindrical cream-painted plinth with dark banding, raising it to its full height.
$375,000