Ewer - Porcelain

Breakfast Porcelain Pitcher from Limoges – Charles X Era / Restoration (c. 1820-1830)
Description:
Service pitcher in hard-paste porcelain, probably Limoges manufacture during the decade of the Bourbon Restoration.
Historical Notes on the Manufacture:
During the Restoration period (1815-1830), to celebrate the return of the Bourbons to the throne of France, artisans crudely impressed on the biscuit bottom a specific commemorative mark: the monogram with the letters A (Artois) and L (Limoges), surmounted by the royal crown.
Stylistic and Decorative Analysis:
The bulbous body is embellished at the neck with a gilded relief geometric frieze with a motif of “moving waves” (nautical current). The handle, of clear Neoclassical derivation, attaches to the shoulder with a lower, leaf-shaped gold-plated junction. The belly is decorated with sprays of cornflowers (decor Barbeau, originally much loved by Queen Marie Antoinette) and sinuous garlands in cobalt blue, interspersed with small dots in fine gold leaf.
The base presents its typical biscuit-era workmanship, with the factory mark clear and hand-pressed before firing.
Condition:
Excellent / Museum quality. The glaze is bright and entirely free of pinpricks, felting, or thread marks. The porcelain shows no chips or losses on the spout, rims, or handle. The gold leafing is exceptionally and magnificently preserved to a mirror finish, with no clouding, abrasion, or signs of wear from rubbing, testimony to impeccably conservative preservation over the centuries.