A 19th-century French chromolithograph of a Sèvres porcelain garniture in rose Pompadour, from Édouard Garnier's celebrated study of Sèvres soft-paste porcelain. At its center stands the famous vase à tête d'éléphant, modeled by Jean-Claude Duplessis, with elephant heads at the shoulders whose curling trunks once held candles. Around it are a pair of vases on scrolled feet with interlaced ribbon reserves, a pair of covered pot-pourri jars, a pair of square planters spilling with violets and ivy, and a bombé jardinière swagged with flowers beneath a blue ribbon bow. Every piece is painted with garlands of tiny flowers and outlined in gold rococo scrolls against the soft pink ground. The Sèvres interlaced L mark with the date letter E, for 1757, is printed on the plate. It is framed in gilt modern frame with a rope twist edge and a beaded inner border, and it is lovely in a bedroom, a dressing room, or a sitting room.
Chromolithography was the finest color printing process of the 19th century. Each color was drawn by hand onto its own limestone block, and the sheet was pressed against every stone in turn, sometimes a dozen or more, with each impression aligned precisely over the last. Here the gold was printed in metallic ink so it catches the light as gilding would.
- Origin: France
- Age: Late 19th century (Circa 1880)
- Medium: Chromolithograph with metallic gold on paper
- Details: Sèvres rose Pompadour garniture including an elephant head vase, pot-pourri jars, planters, and jardinière, printed Sèvres marks; gilt frame with rope twist and beaded edge, glazed
- Dimensions: 18.5 by 13.5
- Condition: Good antique condition with light toning to the paper consistent with age.
