TROUSSEAU ET CIE Lantern #2 Mansion House Dwarves- Nevers French
Faience, c1890
This is a rare and unusual antique Nevers French
Faience whimsical Lantern in handled jug style form.
The subject matter on the Lantern includes a décor of two caricature figures, Mansion House Dwarves, in colloquial costumes amid scenic decorative landscapes. The Dwarves have feathers in their slouch hats- one playing guitar, the other playing violin. The lantern has a front opening where a candle would be placed: the top is pierced with holes in front to release the heat. There is a knob on top, and a large rear handle the back. The inside and underside bottom of this lantern are glazed in white; the underside partially glazed and partly unglazed, showing the reddish-brown clay color typical of Nevers faience from this region.
The lantern has modeling, decorating, and
glaze that are well done with typical colors of antique Nevers pottery:
creamy white background decorated with varying shades of
blue, yellow, green, orange, brown, and manganese.
The underside bottom has a maker's mark: a large a
double ribbon bow in green glaze, with numbers and symbols in black- the mark
of TROUSSEAU ET CIE (1885 - 1894), marks of old and original French Art Pottery.
Dimensions (in inches):
7.0 Tall X 3.8 Wide X 5.7 Deep
Weight
1 Lb., 2.5 Oz.
The estimated date is circa 1890.
This French Antique TROUSSEAU ET CIE Whimsical Lantern depicting Mansion
House Dwarves is in very good condition. Condition status includes
minimal normal wear and rubbing, glaze losses, firing flaws, crazing and
fretting. This item is sound, having no chips, cracks, or major defects, and
having had no apparent repairs or restorations. This item is sold as is, as
described. Please see all photos which are a part of this description. Please
note that this item is photographed in natural light; shadows that may appear
as irregularities are not necessarily chips, cracks, or discoloration.
Mansion House Dwarves
Historically, the Mansion House Dwarves were actual dwarf actors
who entertained and sold products outside at the historically famous Mansion
House in London. Originally the theme of dwarfs represented in porcelains were
modeled after the engravings of 17th Century French artist and engraver,
Jacques Callot.
Nevers faience
Please note this faience item is from Nevers
faience, not Quimper or Desvres. Though similar, there are different color
palettes used and other nuances on the two potteries. Nevers faience
manufacture was from central France in the area of the same name. The area was
famous for superb art pottery known as faience; a pottery technique whereby tin
glazes and decorations are applied over a modeled terra cotta or clay forms,
and fired several times in a kiln.
The city of Nevers, Nièvre, now in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
region in central France, was a center for manufacturing faience, or tin-glazed
earthenware pottery, between around 1580 and the early 19th century. Production
then gradually died down to a single factory, before a revival in the 1880s. In
2017, there were still two potteries making it in the city, after a third had
closed. However the quality and prestige of the wares has gradually declined,
from a fashionable luxury product for the court, to a traditional regional
specialty using styles derived from the past.
Nevers faience was one of the centers where the
istoriato style of Italian maiolica was transplanted in the 16th century, and
flourished for rather longer than in Italy itself. In the 17th century Nevers
was then a pioneer in imitating Asian ceramic styles in Europe, within some
decades followed by all producers of fine wares. The second half of the 17th
century was Nevers' finest period, with several styles being made at the same
time, including a grandiose Italianate Court style.
By the time of the French Revolution Nevers
wares had ceased to be fashionable and expensive, but the relatively crudely
painted faiences patriotiques wares commenting on political events have great
interest and charm. A late 19th-century revival concentrated on high-quality
revivalist wares recreating past glories. In 1838, 700 workers were reported to
be employed, but by 1846 only six factories remained, and by 1850 five.
By 1875 its fortunes had reached a low ebb, and
it was bought by Antoine Montagnon, who had ambitious plans to relaunch it to
supply the market for revivalist wares imitating 17th-century pieces, often
large and complex pieces. By 1881 it was the only factory left in Nevers. The
Montagnon factory (faïencerie) was successful for over a century, with 50
employees around 1900, and its wares exhibited at international exhibitions,
but the factory, by then the oldest in France, finally closed in 2015. In 2020,
two factories remained in production, both mainly making traditional styles.
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Selling my personal collection of
antiques: porcelain and pottery including French Faience, fine old nutcrackers
and carvings, other objets d’Arte; interested to sell one at a time, or as a
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