A pair of rare Chinese rose-grisaille cups and saucers after 'Actors of the Comédie-Française' by Watteau, Yongzheng/Qianlong

Dia.: 11,8 cm (the saucers)
Dia.: 7,5 cm - H.: 4 cm (the cups)

Provenance: 
- A Dutch private collection. 
- The Müller collection, Knokke, Belgium. 
- The William Martin Hurst collection, USA.

Ref.:
- Rob Michiels Auctions, 18 April 2018, lot 565 for an identical cup and saucer. (sold EUR 6.500,00) (link)
- The State Hermitage Museum, inventory number ГЭ-1131, for the original painting 'Les Acteurs de la Comédie-Française' also known as 'Coquettes qui pour voir' or 'La Mascarade' by the French painter Jean Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), painted in 1711-1712. By the mid-18th C., the work belonged to Louis Antoine Crozat (1699-1770), Baron de Thiers, the younger brother of the Parisian merchant and art collector Pierre Crozat. It was acquired in 1772 for Empress Catherine II of Russia and has since been among the Russian imperial collections in the Hermitage and the Gatchina Palace. Now part of the museum's permanent exhibition, it remains on display in the Winter Palace. (link) (see reference image 10)
- The National Library of Spain, inventory number bdh0000144141, for the engraving by Henri Simon Thomassin (1688-1741), which probably served as the example for a smaller version as explained below. (link) (see reference image 11)
- The National Academy of Lincei, Italy, inventory number S-FC53606, for a small version by an unknown publisher, which was likely sent to China where it served as the source for the design of this tea service. It was a common practice for European merchants to send small versions of large engravings (mostly after important paintings) to the Chinese workshops, to have them reproduced on porcelain. (link) (see reference image 12)
- A single cup of this service is in the Lurie collection.

Given the rarity of this design we can assume that only one service was ordered and/or made it back to Europe. It was likely a French command, possibly from the entourage of the brothers Pierre and Louis Antoine Crozat. Pierre was one of the principal advisors to Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, and it was only after his death in 1740 that his collection passed to his younger brother, Louis Antoine, Baron de Thiers. After his death in 1770, the work found its permanent home in Russia through a sale brokered by the famous philosopher Denis Diderot, a prominent figure during the Age of Enlightenment.

Our sincere thanks to Will Motley and Peter Greendyke for their kind help with the description of this lot.

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