Round pink and gold basket held by angels, Coussac-Bonneval in Limoges

A rare round openwork fruit basket held by white biscuit angels on a pink pedestal set on a triangular base. Finely engraved gold ornamentation. Refined whites, porcelain enamelled and left in biscuit. It expresses all the beauty of the Empire style. Excellent condition.

Size: H 28cm x W 24cm

Manufacture de Coussac-Bonneval in Limoges, circa 1830.

An identical basket in the collections of the Odessa Museum and illustrated in the book ‘Chefs-d’œuvre de la porcelaine de Limoges’, exhibition catalogue at the Musée du Luxembourg, published by the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris 1996, p118.

Bed: this superb basket is one of the finest creations from the Coussac-Bonneval factory in Limoges. The model can be found in the factory’s period catalogue. It testifies to the quality of the manufacture’s production.
Bed: The de Bonneval family found deposits of excellent quality kaolin on their land in the 1770s. The Marquis Hyppolite de Bonneval quickly developed an interest in ceramics. After a long and difficult construction and start-up period, the first batch was fired on 25 January 1827. The factory’s production, renowned for its quality, was immediately sold in Paris. A sales catalogue was printed by the Marquis in Paris around 1830, aimed at a prestigious clientele. It featured luxury items, sometimes inspired by models from Sèvres, such as vases and richly decorated services, all designed and partly produced in-house. Only the finishing touches were entrusted to Parisian decorators. The pieces known to the manufactory, which did not mark its pieces (!), show great quality. The whites are impeccable, and the decorations refined. Under the direction of François Dupré, the Manufacture was able to add several artistic forms created by Windish to its catalogue. The quality of the golds benefited from the skills of Maurice André, a gilder on porcelain. (extract from the book ‘Limoges, deux siècles de porcelaine, les éditions de l’amateur’)