Object Description
Very large Sèvres porcelain plaque by Pastier after Jean-Baptiste Greuze
French, 1853
Frame: height 71cm, width 89cm, depth 9cm
Plaque: height 42cm, width 58m, depth 1cm
Crafted by the Sèvres porcelain manufactory and masterfully painted by the artist Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Pastier, this fine work, large in scale, depicts the ‘L’Accordée de Village’ (or ‘The Marriage Contract’) after the original by leading history, genre, and portrait painter Jean-Baptiste Greuze. Pastier (French, 1794-1890), worked for Sèvres from 1826, and reproduced many works by leading French 18th and 19th century artists such as David, Greuze, and Gérard on porcelain, such as this fine artwork that is currently held in the Louvre.
Conveying the intrigue, psychological depth and drama of the original work, with fine artistic qualities and skill, it displays the best of Greuze’s oeuvre, wherein he elevated genre scenes and depictions of everyday life by imbuing them with a sense of the importance and grandeur applicable to more established and grander styles, such as Neoclassical works or history painting, of which he was also a master. The work features a gilt signature and date to the lower right, reading ‘Pastier / d’apres greuze / 1853,’ and on the reverse it read, somewhat indistinctly, ‘-te a Sevres -‘, and is set within a carved giltwood frame.