The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Covered Tureen on Stand (Pot-à-oille)

Covered Tureen on Stand (Pot-à-oille)

1735–38
(French, 1695–1750)
(French, 1745)
Overall: 36.9 x 38.4 x 31.8 cm (14 1/2 x 15 1/8 x 12 1/2 in.); Average: 35 x 38.4 x 31.8 cm (13 3/4 x 15 1/8 x 12 1/2 in.)

Did You Know?

The langoustine, pigeon, and vegetables were cast using real examples giving the silver copies lifelike detail and appearance.

Description

Designed by one of Louis XV’s official architects, this tureen exemplifies the French rococo style, an artistic movement celebrating naturalistic forms that developed in Paris during the early 1700s. In contrast to classical, controlled symmetry, rococo forms morph, twist, and spill into the space around them. Meissonnier embellished this tureen in a picturesque arrangement of vegetables and creatures, transforming a utilitarian object into a decadent display of wealth and abundance. This masterpiece comes from a set of two tureens commissioned by the English Duke of Kingston during an extended stay in Paris in the 1730s.
  • 1740-1773
    Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston [1711–1773], England, by descent to his wife, Elizabeth Chudleigh
    1773-1788
    Elizabeth Chudleigh, sometime Duchess of Kingston [1721–1788], England
    1788-1799 (?)
    Prince Alexander Bezborodko [1747–1799], Russia
    1799-1815 (?)
    Count Elie Bezborodko [1756–1815], Russia
    1815-1855 (?)
    Count Alexander Kushelev-Bezborodko [1800-1855], Russia
    1855-1909 (?)
    Alexander Alexandrovich Polovtsoff [1832-1909], Russia, by descent to his heirs
    (Jacques Seligmann [1858-1923], Paris, France, 1909, sold to John Pierpont Morgan)
    1909-1913 (?)
    John Pierpont Morgan [1837-1913]
    1925-1926
    (Charles and Richard Comyns, London, England, 1925-1926, sold to anonymous buyer)
    1977
    (Peter Zervudachi [b. 1921], Galerie du Lac, Vevey, Switzerland, sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1977-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 177 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “Cleveland Museum of Art Has Purchased Jointly with Stichting Collectie Thyssen—Bornemisza the Kingston Tureens,” January 4, 1978, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Hawley, Henry H. "Meissonnier's Silver for the Duke of Kingston." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 65, no. 10 (December 1978): 312-52. Reproduced: figs. 3, 7, 16 25159607
    Truman, Charles. Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Silver. London: Conran Octopus, 1996. Mentioned: p. 93 library.clevelandart.org
    Donley, Gregory M, "A Discerning Eye", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 39 no. 05, May 1999 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 6 archive.org
    May, Sally Ruth. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: no. 40, p. 42
    Jolly, Anna. Seidengewebe des 18. Jahrhunderts. 2. Riggisberg: Abegg-Stiftung, 2002. Mentioned: p. 34
    Fuhring, Peter. "The Silver Inventory from 1741 of Louis, duc d'Orleans." Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 8 (2003): 130-145. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 130-131, fig. 1 www.jstor.org
    Caillaud-de Guido, Laurence. "La courbe rocaille, lien entre les siècles." L'Estampille, l'objet d'art, no. 435 (May 2008).

    1989. Referenced: p. 14
    Böhmer, Achim, and Sara Hausmann. Retrodesign: stylelab. Mainz: Verlag Hermann Schmidt, 2009. Mentioned: p. 184 library.clevelandart.org
    Franklin, David, and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with, New York, NY: Scala Publishers, 2012. Reproduced & mentioned: pp. 214-215
    Bailey, Gauvin Alexander. Baroque and Rococo. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2012. Mentioned: p. 293, fig. 179 library.clevelandart.org
    Truman, Charles, Seoyoung Kim, and Rebecca Wallis. The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Gold Boxes. London: The Trustees of the Wallace Colection, 2013. Mentioned: p. 67, fig. 4.1 library.clevelandart.org
    Bidwell, Frederick E., and Leslie Cade. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with New York, NY: Scala Arts Publishers, 2014. Reproduced & mentioned: p. 135
    Schroder, Timothy. "Rococo Silver." In Scrolls of Fantasy: The Rococo and Ceramics in England, C. 1735-C. 1775. Charles Dawson, ed., 7-26. London: English Ceramic Circle, 2015. Reproduced: p. 9, fig. 5
    Manners, Errol. "The Rococo Porcelain of Europe and its influence on British Ceramics." In Scrolls of Fantasy: The Rococo and Ceramics in England, C. 1735-C. 1775. Charles Dawson, ed., 27-38. London: English Ceramic Circle, 2015. Reproduced: p. 28, fig. 4
    "Welcome, Ada de Wit: The museum's new curator of decorative art." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 63, no. 3 (2023): 22-23. Reproduced: P. 23.
  • Elegance and Intrigue: French Society in 18th-century Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 16-November 6, 2016).
    Rococo: The Continuing Curve 1720-2008. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (March 7-July 6, 2008).
    All That Glitters: Great Silver Vessels in Cleveland's Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 23, 1994-January 8, 1995).
    Consuming Passions: The Art of Food and Drink. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 26-October 9, 1983).
    Tanke och form i rokokon (18th Century: Thought and Form in the Rococo Age). Nationalmuseum, 103 24 Stockholm, Sweden (organizer) (October 4, 1979-January 6, 1980).
  • {{cite web|title=Covered Tureen on Stand (Pot-à-oille)|url=false|author=Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, Pierre-François Bonnestrenne, Henry Adnet|year=1735–38|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1977.182