Sophie von der Goltz
Head of Sale
The Richard Deacon Collection
Lot 83*
A Sèvres green-ground flower vase (cuvette Mahon), dated 1757
2 December 2025, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£50,000 - £70,000
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Nette Megens
Head of Department, Director
Sebastian Kuhn
Department Director
Raphael Machiels
Associate Specialist
Ghislaine Howard
Sale Coordinator
A Sèvres green-ground flower vase (cuvette Mahon), dated 1757
Of the first size, reserved with panels edged with gilt foliate scrollwork and swags, and on the front, trellis panels, the front painted with putti and doves amidst clouds, the reverse with a trophy emblematic of the arts, the sides with musical trophies, gilt-edged rims and with gilt foliate swags inside the rim on each side, 29.5cm across; 20.5cm high, interlaced LL monogram enclosing date letter D in gilding (restored)
Footnotes
Provenance:
Anon. sale, Christie's Paris, 19 December 2007, lot 12
The design for the cuvette Mahon is thought to have been created by Jean-Claude Duplessis, and was produced in three sizes, as documented in a drawing preserved in the Sèvres archives. The shape is discussed in depth by Geoffrey de Bellaigue, French Porcelain in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Vol. I, 2009, pp. 138-142. A model and mould of the "Cuvette mahon a fleurs" appear in the inventory dated 1 January 1757. De Bellaigue notes that production was concentrated between 1757 and 1761, with recorded sales extending to 1763. Over twenty examples are known, dating from 1757 to 1776, suggesting that the present piece may be among the earliest. Other examples of the shape are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Getty Museum, Los Angeles, the Royal Collection, London, and the British Museum, London.
The name of the cuvette Mahon is based on a military success during the Seven Years War in the town of Mahon on Minorca.