VINCENNES Pair of square flower boxes in soft porcelain of the second size with polychrome decoration of pairs of birds on terraces in four reserves surrounded by trellis and garlands of flowers in gold on a celestial blue background. Marked: LL interlaced, letter-date A for 1754, mark of the painter Louis-Denis Armand l'ainé. 18th century, 1754. H. 14 cm, W. 10.9 cm. Some minor gold wear and firing cracks. PROVENANCE The Christner Collection, Christie's, New York, June 9, 1979, lot 237. In December 1754, the Marquis de Courteille received two bleu céleste oiseaux boxes as a gift from the factory's shareholders (Arch. Sèvres Vy1, f° 67). In December 1754, the merchant Lazare Duvaux also bought two bleu céleste oiseaux cases for the price of 480 livres (id. f° 71). Only one other pair of square porcelain cases from Vincennes, also of the second size, with a celestial-blue background decorated with birds, dated A for 1754, is known to exist. Painted by Philippe Xhrouuet, it comes from the former Gustave and Robert de Rothschild collections, and is now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. It is not possible to distinguish between our pair of flower boxes and the one in the Houston museum, which was given to the Marquis de Courteille and the one delivered to Lazare Duvaux. The same merchant bought another pair the following year, in December 1755, decorated in celestial blue with very rich birds, for 720 livres (id. f° 118). The latter appear in Lazare Duvaux's December 1755 journal under no. 2360: Mme Lambert (pour mylord Havré) : Deux caisses carrées, bleu céleste, peintes à oiseaux 720 livres (Louis Courajod, Livre-Journal de Lazare Duvaux, marchand bijoutier ordinaire du Roy, 1748-58, 1873, no. 2360) Mylord Havré refers to Lord Hervey, John Augustus Earl of Bristol, 1724-1779, This pair of flower boxes, dated B for 1755, painted by Louis Denis Armand l'ainé, is in the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburg, and reproduced by Julie Emerson, "Victory at Sea: A Vincennes cuvette painted with a battle-scene" The French Porcelain Society Jounal¸ 2007, vol. III, fig. 6, p. 63. Jacques Dominique de Barberie de Courteille (1696-1767), Intendant of Finances from 1748, was appointed by Louis XV on August 3, 1751, as royal representative for matters concerning the management and administration of the Manufacture de Vincennes. In a letter dated March 5, 1757, he is described as "protector of the porcelain factory". His role as commissaire du roi became more important when Louis XV acquired the Sèvres manufactory in 1759, and he continued to be the royal representative in charge of the manufactory (commissaire-administrateur) until his death on November 3, 1767, when he was replaced by Bertin. From May 1752, he and his wife frequently purchased porcelain from the factory; they also received gifts of porcelain every December from 1753 to 1767. Louis-Denis Armand (b. 1723), listed at Vincennes and Sèvres between 1745 and 1788 as a painter of birds, animals, landscapes and figures, is recognized today as the finest painter of birds. Armand's birds were drawn by observing and sketching birds on location, notably in the Jardin du Roi, and by creating his own animated scenes. His monthly salary was 100 livres, plus an annual bonus of 1200 livres, making him the highest-paid painter at the Manufacture de Sèvres. For a study of Louis-Denis Armand l'ainé, see Bernard Dragesco "Armand l'ainé peintre de nature" in John Whitehead, Sèvres sous Louis XV, naissance de la légende, 2010, pp. 90-91.