Sèvres chestnut basket

Code: MB624

Marronnière à ozier or maronnière tenant au plateau

1760

Soft-paste porcelain

Height: 5 1/8 in. (13 cm.)

Length: 10 2/3 in. (27 cm.)

Marks: interlaced Ls enclosing date letter G

Sèvres marronnières were first produced in 1757. The sales records list several types of marronnières made between 1757 and 1759 including, marronnière unie, à compartimens, contourné, forme Pompadour, ovale, à jour, à ozier and tenant au plateau. As there are only two types of marronnières which survive today, it is likely that these titles were duplicated, with more than one referring to the same model. The present piece is the shape known as the marronnière à ozier, or basket-weave form. It can also be described as a marronnière au tenant plateau, with the basket fixed to the stand. Marronnières à ozier were among the models introduced in 1758, while the marronnière au tenant plateau was first mentioned in the records in 1759. Marronnières were produced in only one size. 

The marronnières à ozier is the most common model of Sèvres chestnut basket known, with around twenty examples accounted for today. This includes pairs found in the Residenz Museum, Munich and the Wadsworth Atheneum, as well as single examples in the Wallace Collection, London and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.