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Vase
Possibly by: Nast manufactory (French, working in Paris, 1783–1835)
Possibly by: Marc Schoelcher manufactory (French, working in Paris, 1798 – 1834)
Possibly by: Marc Schoelcher manufactory (French, working in Paris, 1798 – 1834)
French (Paris)
about 1820
Object Place: Europe, Paris, France
Medium/Technique
Hard-paste porcelain decorated in polychrome enamels and gilding
Dimensions
Height x width: 28 3/4 x 12 in. (73 x 30.5 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of Miss Clara Endicott Sears
Accession Number1982.499
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
DescriptionOne of a pair with 1982.500. Each vase is decorated with a classical figural composition on one side and a pastoral landscape on the other. This vase represents Alexander the Great granting clemency to the family of Darius, probably after Edelinck's engraving after Le Brun (see 82.315).
ProvenanceAbout 1820, purchased by David Sears (b. 1787 - d. 1871), Boston [see note]; by descent to his son, Knyvet Winthrop Sears (b. 1832 - d. 1891) and his wife Mary Peabody Sears (b. 1836 - d. 1929), Boston; to their daughter, Clara Endicott Sears (b. 1863 - d. 1960), Boston; 1960, bequest of Clara Endicott Sears to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 17, 1982)
NOTE: When Clara Endicott Sears bequeathed this pair of French vases (1982.499-1982.500) to the MFA, she stated that her grandfather David Sears had bought them "from the possessions of the Empress Josephine of France, the wife of Napoleon the First, at the breaking up of her Chateau Malmaison." It is, however, much more likely that these are the "two large Porcelain vases to place in the niches, the price limited to 500 francs each" that David Sears ordered from Paris on December 10, 1820, for his Beacon Street home. See Wendy A. Cooper, Classical Taste in America: 1800-1840 (New York: Abbeville Press, 1993), pp. 41-43.
NOTE: When Clara Endicott Sears bequeathed this pair of French vases (1982.499-1982.500) to the MFA, she stated that her grandfather David Sears had bought them "from the possessions of the Empress Josephine of France, the wife of Napoleon the First, at the breaking up of her Chateau Malmaison." It is, however, much more likely that these are the "two large Porcelain vases to place in the niches, the price limited to 500 francs each" that David Sears ordered from Paris on December 10, 1820, for his Beacon Street home. See Wendy A. Cooper, Classical Taste in America: 1800-1840 (New York: Abbeville Press, 1993), pp. 41-43.