Standing 22in (56cm) tall on its original stand, its very unfamiliarity, along with various slight chips, may help explain the diffident price of Fr139,000 (£13,200) paid by a French collector.
Monumental Rouen pieces of this size and design are extemely rare; the Chinese-style decor testifies to the influence of artists from Delft, present in Rouen from around 1700, and the form of the piece recalls Dutch genièvre (gin) casks. The clay stopper is a Rouen speciality but the metal fleur-de-lys above the tap is a 19th century addition.
Affable auctioneer Jean-Emmanuel Prunier believes that his buying public has become “more difficult” in recent months, but was pleased with a high price of Fr670,000 (£64,000) paid by the Dutch trade, against an American under-bidder, for an elaborate still life, pictured, 2ft 9in x 3ft 3in (83 x 98cm), signed Dirk Valkenburg (1675-c.1725), featuring grapes, apples, walnuts, peaches, plums, glass, plate and wicker basket on a stone ledge, with a parkscape behind.
Other highlights from a sale that totalled just under Fr4m (around £360,000) included a Carrara marble statuette of Louis XV, 2ft 4in (72cm) tall, attributed to a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne II, at Fr235,000 (£22,400); and a 14th century limestone Madonna or Vierge de Commande, 4ft 11in (1.49m) tall with traces of polychromy, lacking her right hand and holding the infant Jesus in her left, at Fr350,000 (£33,300). The Virgin, probably made in southern Normandy around 1350, was wearing contemporary costume with intricate border patterning. She bore signs of repair and restoration.
Tapping into a ‘more difficult’ market
FRANCE: This early 18th century, barrel-shaped vinaigrier in blue-and-white Rouen grand feu faïence (c.1700), pictured, used for vinegar made from wine or cider, was the most eye-catching offering in the Louviers saleroom of Prunier on May 13.
