For those who love porcelain art and find moments of joy in admiring what is painted on this medium, a beautiful allegorical interpretation that embodies the grace, beauty and kindness: you should be aware of the existence of this extraordinary version of the Three Graces, which remained unknown in the world of porcelain art until about ten years ago.
Painted by a brilliant hand this work has features that it is not possible to judge like one of so many copies of the porcelain works of famous artists that were in museums and royal collections. These institutions which found consensus to pass down into the future, in permanent freshness of colors in enamel, copies of masterpieces that over time take on an unfortunate inevitable and irreparable aspect. I In general the creation of painting on porcelain becomes a special branch that requires virtuosity and experience on the part of the artist as well as from a manufacture capable of production with efficient furnaces.
More and more demanding decorative motifs to paint, led to the success of small and large factories, with the collaboration of artists who performed on objects manufactured in any form, beautiful work that still evoke wonder. Creations with high production costs due to minute and meticulous work of painting and required repeated burning of objects that become ideal symbols of political prestige, and an always appreciated gift or present for a wealthy aristocratic clientele and Royal houses.
From the figures recorded by the Sèvres factory, which was using protocol for each production, from the commission to the delivery, you can check prices that in the first three decades of the 1800 the factory was asking for the made goods. Aware of the phases of work that requires making decorated of certain objects, the prices seem appropriate. A cup with a portrait of the Empress Marie Louise costa 192 francs. The service “Peines et Plaisirs de l’amour”, today in Dobrée museum in Paris, with subjects rich in figures on all the great pieces of the “déjeuner”, was commanded by Louis XVIII and manufactured in the years 1816 and 1817 cost 17,100 francs. A portrait of Napoleon, 11.5 x 15.5 cm, was sold for 20,000 francs. The effigy of King Louis XVIII in size of 8.3 x 12.5 cm, cost 1,200 francs.
Even copies of famous paintings on porcelain become expensive. The “La Belle jardinière” by Raphael, performed for the king Louis XVIII on a plate of 26 x 36 cm, cost 20,000 francs. The version in 40 cm x 56 porcelain of “Cupid and Psyche” by Gérard 18,000 francs. A figure not far below the 22,100 francs that the Louvre paid for the original artist canvas. In Parisian chronicles it is reported that comes Jaquotot asked 90,000 francs for a copy of a “Holy Family” by Raphael.
For comparison here are some prices in that period of Parisian life: for the annual rent a nice apartment in the central area wonder 6,000 francs. The monthly salary for a servant is compensated with 20 francs, roughly the price of a “Diner” in the then-known restaurant “Chez Very.” 2 francs is the price to pay for the ride with the horse-drawn carriage from one part of the city to the other.
In Paris, at the end of 1700 and the beginning of 1800, the manufacture of Sèvres and that one of Dihl and Guérard, always aiming at exceeding the German manufactures with new colors and rich floral and figurative decorations, became successful by working with well-established personalities such as miniaturist painters . Here are just a few of the many names: Isabey, Girodet, Leguay, Constantin, Swebach, Lebel, and among the female painters those of Laurent, Jaquotot, Girard, Chavassien.
In those years porcelain art and pocelain painting reached an artistic level which remained since unsurpassed, as demonstrated by the prestigious products of Sèvres, decorated by Marie-Victoire Jaquotot and also by LeGuai her teacher and her husband, which are now preserved in the factory museum and other museums in Paris and abroad.
With her art, Jaquotot is very successful but above all for her great talent to copy the works of Raphael, sometimes with improvements, are represented in equal grace and class, but freed from the veil of old paint, what the contemporary popular painter Constantin did not used to do. Certainly other European manufactures with their own artists have had deserved appreciation and their place in the history from the western porcelain.
About this version of the Three Graces of Jaquotot, is to believe that was not controlled by those who owned the Raffaello because a copy made by Jaquotot would cost more than the original, which was then paid by Woodburn only 4,000 francs, that Italian works in post-war times they could easily acquire affordable.
With regards to this version of Three Graces of Jaquotot, it is to be thought that it was not ordered by the one who owned the Raffaello, because a copy made by you would have cost more than the original, which was then paid from Woodburn only 4,000 francs, by the fact that Italy was on postwar period times and you could easily buy at discount prices.
Certainly the artist painted it not in order to sell it, as it does not appear in the lists of the works exhibited in Paris and in his travels her Germany and in Italy. The reason why such a magnificent Allegory, created to be admired, was kept away from the public, is due to particular reasons maybe personal to Jaquotot, which still remain unknown.
That this be clarified or not, nothing takes away from the high artistic and allegorical value of this pocelain art which remains singular and unique in the world.
Credits:
Napoleon: Marie-Victoire Jaquotot [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANapoleon_Groot.jpg
Amor & Psyche: François Gérard [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGerard_FrancoisPascalSimon-Cupid_Psyche_end.jpg
La belle gardinière: Raphael [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_belle_jardinière