Pair of Vases (vases oeuf[?])

These "egg vases" are of exceptional quality: basketwork bases support egg-shaped bodies and bundles of straw form the handles, while small eggs resting in straw nests serve as the finials for each lid. Each vase is decorated with inlaid decoration: the blue ground color, known as bleu Fallot, was scraped away before firing to allow for the grisaille reserves and for the area in which the supporting putti were to be painted. The porcelain painter Jean-Baptiste-Etienne Genest frequently used this technique; for this reason, the decoration is attributed to him. The painted reserves, which imitate carved stone reliefs, show mythological scenes of sacrifices on one side and trophies containing shields, arrows, and an axe on the other.