Pair of Vases (vases bouc du Barry B)

Richly ornamented with gold goats' heads and colorful butterflies, birds, and flowers, these vases were intended for display in front of a mirror so that people could admire both lavishly decorated sides. Sèvres porcelain manufactory artisans experimented with different types and methods of decoration when producing these pieces. Instead of painting the vases using colored enamel and then adding gold leaf outlines and decorations, porcelain gilders applied the gold first onto the body of the vases and then added enamel colors within the gold outlines. Decorators sometimes tried using silver, as on these vases, but they soon abandoned this practice since the silver tarnished over time.Sèvres sold these vases for the high sum of three hundred and sixty livres – an amount equivalent to six months' salary for a porcelain painter. The manufactory named this style vases bouc du Barry (billy goat vases of du Barry), in honor of Madame du Barry (1743–1793), official mistress of French King Louis XV (reigned 1715–1774), but the connection between her and these animals remains a mystery.