Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (French, founded 1740)
Design attributed to Jean-Claude Duplessis (French, c. 1695–1774)
Painted by Pierre-Louis-Philippe Armand (French, active 1758–1781)
Elephant Candelabrum Vase (Vase à Tête d'Eléphant)
INV-1085
Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (French, founded 1740)
Design attributed to Jean-Claude Duplessis (French, c. 1695–1774)
Painted by Pierre-Louis-Philippe Armand (French, active 1758–1781)1757–58
Elephant Candelabrum Vase (Vase à Tête d'Eléphant)
Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (French, founded 1740) Design attributed to Jean-Claude Duplessis (French, c. 1695–1774) Painted by Pierre-Louis-Philippe Armand (French, active 1758–1781) →Rococovasevessel
Date
1757–58
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain, polychrome enamels, and gilding
Dimensions
38.5 × 25 × 14.7 cm (15 1/8 × 9 13/16 × 5 3/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Joseph Maier and Arthur Lewis Liebman Memorial: Gift of Kenneth J. Maier, M.D.
This model is one of the more exotic forms created by Jean-Claude Duplessis. The elephants’ trunks originally supported double candle sockets that are now missing. The idea of combining elephant heads with a vase may have derived from a Ming dynasty Chinese vase or a Meissen candelabrum. The Sèvres painter Pierre-Louis-Philippe Armand accentuated the sensuous qualities of the elephants by framing their brown eyes with pink lids and long eyelashes.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
