Thursday, May 15, 2014

Period Empire Presentation Cafe' au Lait cup & saucer dated Aug 31,1812

Period Empire Presentation Cafe' au Lait cup and saucer dated Aug 31,1812 


I collect French Paris porcelain 19th century Cafe' au Lait cup and saucers. Around 2002 while in Paris I discovered a pair of young antiques dealers that specialized in French Paris porcelain. The name of there shop named after them" Daniel et Vincent Antiques" located on 19 rue Molière. I bought from them this lovely 1st Empire Presentation Cafe' au Lait cup and saucer. When I first saw it I thought it was a mourning piece of porcelain but Daniel & Vincent explained to me that during the early 19th century it was a fad with the Bourgeoisie to present to your wife a Cafe' au Lait cup with your newborn baby painted on the front as a presentation gift. I cup of this quality would have not been used and most likely would have been displayed in a glass front cabinet.  




Cafe' au Lait birth cups like the one we see here were considered fitting presents to a new mother. These were only gifted after the baby arrived. In the 18th and 19th century giving a gift before the birth seemed inappropriate given the fact that many mothers and children did not survive childbirth. The manufacture of porcelain has always been competitive, costly and notoriously risky. These factors forced the Paris manufacturers to broader their clientele continually through the introduction of new colors and forms and by devising new, attractive uses to which porcelain objects could be put. This quest for novel and appealing goods led to the production of a staggering array of dinner, dessert, tea and coffee services; toilette sets; clocks; desk accoutrements; garniture objects; lighting devices and even such architectural elements as mantelpieces.





The cup is beautifully painted with a blonde hair, blue eyed baby with outreached arm coming from a cloud. The interior of the cup has rich thick gold gilt and a NeoClassical rosette at the bottom. The Saucer has gold bands with the words in French, Leon and Jsabelle the 31 of Aug, 1812.  Leon and Jsabelle are the names of the parents of this lovely child and we have the birthday of the child. The cup is not signed by the manufacturer as most Paris porcelain is not signed. This charming 200 plus years old cup and saucer leaves questions. What was the child's first name? Did he/she live to be a adult? What were the parents last name?  So many questions.  We still have this beautiful personalized piece of art to enjoy of craftsmanship of days gone by. 



 The interior of the cup has rich thick gold gilt and a NeoClassical rosette at the bottom. The Saucer has gold bands with the words in French, Leon and Jsabelle the 31 of Aug, 1812.



 The interior of the cup has rich thick gold gilt and a NeoClassical rosette at the bottom. The Saucer has gold bands with the words in French, Leon and Jsabelle the 31 of Aug, 1812.

Period Empire Presentation Cafe' au Lait cup and saucer dated Aug 31,1812 

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Henri Auguste. Coronation ewer with winged figure. 1804.

Henri Auguste. Coronation ewer with winged figure. 1804.

Silver-gilt.

Château de Fontainebleau. Fontainebleau, France.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

"Portrait of a Military Family" by an unknown French artist (1789-1790)

"Portrait of a Military Family" by an unknown French artist (1789-1790) 

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Creole Vanity by Andrew LaMar Hopkins

Creole Vanity by Andrew LaMar Hopkins

My latest painting titled" Creole Vanity" a play on words. Showing a fashionable 1820's New Orleans Creole bedroom. With a French Creole woman at her dressing table caressing her image reflected in mahogany and ormolu Empire dressing table vanity mirror. The bedroom has a early 19th century Louisiana beehive leg armoire with brass ball feet. Wallpaper border hatboxes sit atop the armoire. Next to the armoire and under the window are a pair of Charles X bergères. 

On the side of the armoire are two gilt framed hand colored engravings of roses by Pierre-Joseph Redouté. He was nicknamed "The Raphael of flowers". He was an official court artist of Queen Marie Antoinette, and he continued painting through the French Revolution and Reign of Terror. Redouté survived the turbulent political upheaval to gain international recognition for his precise renderings of plants, which remain as fresh in the early 21st century as when first painted. On the window sill is a Classical English Regency bronze urn. 


A American bedstead in the French taste by French-born maître ébéniste Charles-Honoré Lannuier working in New York city. The bedstead has a carved and gilded "Pelican in her piety" on the top of the tester, A symbol of the Catholic church and used in Louisiana on the state flag and seal.  Above the seated lady are oil portraits of her husband and son in gilt Empire frames. Her poodle sits on the bed. The NeoClassical Empire carpet is a Savonnerie. The Savonnerie manufactory was the most prestigious European manufactory of knotted-pile carpets, enjoying its greatest period c. 1650–1685; the cachet of its name is casually applied to many knotted-pile carpets made at other centers. 

The revival of the Savonnerie in the early 19th century after the Revolution is due to the patronage of Napoleon, who commissioned carpets after 1805 in the Empire style like the Savonnerie depicted in the painting. New cartoons were designed by Percier and Fontaine. The baseboards of the room are marbleized to look like black Egyptian gold vain marble. On the Savonnerie carpet is a 18th century gilded and velvet dog kennel in the Louis XVI style. 

A American bedstead in the French taste by French-born maître ébéniste Charles-Honoré Lannuier working in New York city. The bedstead has a carved and gilded "Pelican in her piety" on the top of the tester, A symbol of the Catholic church and used in Louisiana on the state flag and seal. 



A American bedstead in the French taste by French-born maître ébéniste Charles-Honoré Lannuier working in New York city. 




18th and 19th century New Orleans was a hot a humid place before AC with lot's of rain and swamps from Spring until Fall. Most windows were open to allow air circulation in rooms. Because of this mosquitoes  invaded the space. So one could get a good nights rest from blood sucking pests fashionably alternatives were used in the South. Mosquito curtains. Panels of mosquito netting mounted on the tester that could be pulled out to surround the bed at night to block intrusive pests or opened during the day for the elegant look of  curtains.

A American bedstead in the French taste by French-born maître ébéniste Charles-Honoré Lannuier working in New York city. The bedstead has a carved and gilded "Pelican in her piety" on the top of the tester, A symbol of the Catholic church and used in Louisiana on the state flag and seal. 

My latest painting titled" Creole Vanity" a play on words. Showing a fashionable 1820's New Orleans Creole bedroom. With a French Creole woman at her dressing table caressing her image reflected in mahogany and ormolu Empire dressing table vanity mirror. 

A 1820's French Engraving where I got the ideal for the lady 


Next to the armoire and under the window are a pair of Charles X bergères.

Charles X bergère


A lap dog sits on the Classical bed

18th and 19th century New Orleans was a hot a humid place before AC with lot's of rain and swamps from Spring until Fall. Most windows were open to allow air circulation in rooms. Because of this mosquitoes  invaded the space. So one could get a good nights rest from blood sucking pests fashionably alternatives were used in the South. Mosquito curtains. Panels of mosquito netting mounted on the tester that could be pulled out to surround the bed at night to block intrusive pests or opened during the day for the elegant look of  curtains.

 Above the seated lady are oil portraits of her husband and son in gilt Empire frames.

The bedroom has a early 19th century Louisiana beehive leg armoire with brass ball feet. Wallpaper border hatboxes sit atop the armoire.

 Louisiana beehive leg armoire

Early 19th century Wallpaper border hatbox

Early 19th century Wallpaper border hatbox

Early 19th century hand colored rose engraving by Pierre-Joseph Redouté 

He was nicknamed "The Raphael of flowers".

He was an official court artist of Queen Marie Antoinette, and he continued painting through the French Revolution and Reign of Terror. Redouté survived the turbulent political upheaval to gain international recognition for his precise renderings of plants, which remain as fresh in the early 21st century as when first painted.

Paris was the cultural and scientific centre of Europe during an outstanding period in botanical illustration (1798 – 1837), one noted for the publication of several folio books with coloured plates. Enthusiastically, Redouté became an heir to the tradition of the Flemish and Dutch flower painters Brueghel, Ruysch, van Huysum and de Heem. Redouté contributed over 2,100 published plates depicting over 1,800 different species, many never rendered before.



The detail of the carpet shown in the photograph has a Classical swan motif . Josephine was very fond of swans and had black swans imported from Australia to swim in her lake at Malmaison.

Black swan in New Orleans City park 



 Classical English Regency bronze urn


On the Savonnerie carpet is a 18th century gilded and velvet dog kennel in the Louis XVI style. 

NeoClassical Empire Savonnerie carpet



 18th century gilded and velvet dog kennel that belonged to French Queen Marie Antoinette 


The bedstead has a carved and gilded "Pelican in her piety" on the top of the tester, A symbol of the Catholic church and used in Louisiana on the state flag and seal.

Detail of a tabernacle doors at Montpellier's cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Montpellier) showing the  "Pelican in her piety"

The heraldic device of a mother Pelican, plucking at her own breast in order to draw blood for the nurture of her young, is one that spans at least 7 centuries. Many family crests, churches and cathedrals across the Christian world display such an image. 

Some medieval bestiaries describe the young as pecking at the paternal bird who, in angry response, strikes back at them, inflicting mortal wounds. The adult bird is so grieved by its actions that it pierces its own breast (known as vulning - hence the word vulnerable) and on the third day he draws blood which, when spilt onto the young, revives them. 

The Pelican-in-her-Piety is an allegorical depiction of Jesus Christ, in both His sacrificial love and resurrection. In an age when literacy was limited, the image of the Pelican-in-her-Piety would have been recognisable and understood by everyone who saw it and was, in particular, interpreted as being symbolic of the Eucharist. 



18th and 19th century New Orleans was a hot a humid place before AC with lot's of rain and swamps from Spring until Fall. Most windows were open to allow air circulation in rooms. Because of this mosquitoes  invaded the space. So one could get a good nights rest from blood sucking pests fashionably alternatives were used in the South. Mosquito curtains. Panels of mosquito netting mounted on the tester that could be pulled out to surround the bed at night to block intrusive pests or opened during the day for the elegant look of  curtains.

French Empire Classical portrait of a boy 


Creole Vanity by Andrew LaMar Hopkins

You can follow my artwork on my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/andrewhopkinsfolkart

Monday, May 5, 2014

Drawing of a male nude by Jacques Reattu, 1760-1833. France

Drawing of a male nude by Jacques Reattu, 1760-1833. France