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an image of a statue of a woman sitting on top of a stone blockan open book with a statue of a man on top of itstatue of a woman holding a bag with writing on itstatue of a woman sitting on a chair with a dogstatue of a man sitting on a chair with a hat on his head
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DAGUERRE PARIS

119 - SEVRES, Empire period, 1808
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Estimate €3,000 - €5,000
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Description
SEVRES, Empire period, 1808 Figure of the colossus Memnon in hard bisque porcelain. Marked on the front of the plinth: SÈVRES Marked on the reverse of the throne ‘J.B. 27 m 8’ for 27 May 1808 and ‘O.G.’ for the sculptor Oger Restored chips on the hands, fire damage on the arms and ankles, small chips on the rear corners of the plinth H. 21 cm Following the publication in 1802 of *Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte pendant les campagnes du général Bonaparte en 1798–1799* by Dominique Vivant-Denon, Alexandre Brongniart, director of the Sèvres porcelain manufactory, decided in 1804 to produce an Egyptian service. The service was completed in 1806 and entered the sales warehouse on 31 December 1806, but the overcoat delayed its delivery. Brongniart wrote in June 1806: ‘The Egyptian service may be regarded as complete. Only the surtout will prevent it from being exhibited’ (presumably at the Exhibition of Industrial Products). The idea of ‘creating an architectural design’ in bisque porcelain for the overcoat of the Egyptian service seems to have originated with Vivant-Denon. On 26 Pluviôse, Year XIII, the director of the Napoleon Museum wrote to the administrator of the Imperial Sèvres Manufactory: ‘It has occurred to me to create a charming Egyptian group, easy to execute, for serving fresh, glazed or dried fruit, which would serve both as part of the service and as decoration for the over-dish. Let me know if you can produce architectural forms with any degree of precision; tell me whether you could maintain clean, slender lines in the column shafts. Might we not advantageously combine bronze with biscuit porcelain for this sort of decoration? With success assured in this regard, we would achieve a truly monumental centrepiece…’. Denon appointed an architect who had also taken part in the Egyptian Expedition, Jean-Baptiste Lepère (1761–1844), to produce the general design for the centrepiece. The plates in Denon’s work *Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte* (Journey through Lower and Upper Egypt), published in 1802, served as sources of inspiration for the figures and architectural elements of the overcoat. Thus, the Colossi of Memnon are based on the drawings in plate no. 44. The overcoat was finally completed in September 1808, and its composition was described upon its arrival at the sales warehouse: In the centre, the Temple of Philae On either side, two temples: that of Tentiris and that of Etfou On the sides (as above), two piers Four sections of colonnades linking the temples to the piers Four further sections featuring figures of Memnon and sphinxes completing the canopy Four obelisks positioned between the temples, for a total sale price of 20,000 francs. This first Egyptian service was delivered on 2 October 1808 on behalf of the Emperor and subsequently presented by Napoleon I to Tsar Alexander I to mark the great diplomatic success represented by the signing of the Tilsit Agreements on 7 July 1807. It is now preserved, together with the overcoat, at the Kuskovo Museum in Moscow. The four figures of Memnon that formed part of the overcoat presented to the Tsar are now in Russia. This particular Memnon statue, no doubt due to the bullet holes in its arms and ankles, was sold separately for 24 francs on 7 December 1808 (Sèvres archive Vy20 f° 37). Bibliography: P. Arrizoli-Clémentel, ‘Les surtouts impériaux en porcelaine de Sèvres 1804–1814’, *Keramik-Freunde der Schweiz*, Journal of the Swiss Friends of Ceramics, 1976. N. Kazakiévitch, ‘The Egyptian Service in Russia’, Journal of the Friends of the Sèvres Museum, 1995, pp. 24–29.
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About the sale Final memories of Goulaine Castle
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Auction time 09/29/2026 at 2:00 PM
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