Garniture of Three Vases (vases des âges)

From the Getty Museum record

Beginning in 1778, the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory produced garnitures of five vases to a design called the *vases des âges* (vases of the ages). These ornamental vases were made in three sizes: a large central vase with handles in the shape of bearded male heads, a pair of smaller vases with heads of young women, and a pair of still smaller vases with heads of boys. In 1781 Louis XVI bought one of these garnitures for his library at the palace of Versailles. The scenes painted on the fronts of these vases show episodes from *The Adventures of Telemachus,* one of the king's favorite books. The Getty Museum owns three of the original five vases, while the two smallest now belong to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. These vases are among the largest pieces of jeweled porcelain made at Sèvres. Jeweling was an elaborate form of decoration in which the ground color was covered with stamped gold foils. Small drops of colored enamel were then applied to the foils, imitating jewels, pearls, and moss agates. This type of ornament was extremely fragile and was therefore used only on objects created for display rather than for use. At least one of these vases was modeled by the répareur, Étienne-Henry Bono. The design was created after engravings by Jean-Baptiste Tilliard and after designs by Charles Monnet. Étienne-Henri Le Guay gilded the vases.