BY PIERRE REYMOND (C.1513-1584), SIGNED 'PR' AND DATED 1553

For French nobility during the reign of the House of Valois-Angoulême enameled tazzas would have been reserved for use and decoration during special dining celebrations. For these courtly gifts, feast and Bacchanalian scenes were a natural choice of subject. Pierre Reymond, who was particularly known for his work in grisaille, was inspired for the present example by an engraving from French architect, printmaker, and designer of popular luxury decorative arts, Jacques Androuet du Cerceau (1510-1585) in his Fonds de Coupes series (see inv. E.2220-1911, Victoria & Albert Museum, London). Reymond used this theme on several known works, not limited to a smaller tazza now at the Musée municipal de l’Evêché (inv. 80.364) as well as a tazza lid, no longer associated with a tazza but the same diameter as the present example at the British Museum (inv. 1913,1220.43). The latter of those also shows four effigies on the underside similar to the present example, however, on the British Museum example, the effigies all show allegorical figures, whereas at least the young man with a hat in the present example appears contemporaneous to the artist and is likely associated with the commission of the vessel.

Reymond is also known to have used the Fonds de Coupes series on other vessels, especially the very similar composition for the Triumph of Diana (see Victoria & Albert Museum inv. E.2217-1911 for etching design). One version formerly in the collection of Didier Petit de Meurville (1793-1873), is dated ‘1553’, the same as the present work. That tazza, which is described as a gift from Henri II to his mistress Diane de Poitiers, also featured the fleur-de-lis design on the underside of the stem, like the present tazza (see Didier Petit Collection Catalogue, no. 103). Other tazzas by Reymond and others featuring the Triumph of Diana include one formerly in the Hubert de Givenchy and later Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge Collections, dated 1552 and sold at Christie’s, Paris, 23-25 February 2009 as lot 528 and one housed at the Kunsthishorisches Museum, Vienna, dated 1554 (inv. 3239 and 3241) (Kugel, pp. 20-25 and Blanc, pp. 118-119).

Other enamel painters in Limoges incorporated du Cerceau’s Fonds de Coupes engravings in the same manner as Reymond. A few years later, Jean Court dit Vigier (active ca. 1555-85) represented the Triumph of Diana on a betrothal gift from Dauphin Francis II to Mary Stuart, probably from 1558. Like the present example, Jean Court made his courtly offering with a laurel border around a circular procession, four effigies on the underside of the lid and used the fleur-de-lis on the inside of the stem. (J. S. Gardner and A. Higgins, Illustrated Catalogue of European Enamels, London, 1897, pp. 44-45, no. 157, pls. XLII, XLIII, XLIV and Blanc, pp. 120-121, no. 32). The Mary Queens of Scots Betrothal Cup prominently incorporates the Royal arms of Scotland, however, the colored crest and accompanying inscription on the foot and interior of the present work are not thought to represent a coat-of-arms.