A LARGE SEVRES (NAPOLEON III) PORCELAIN PATE D’APPLICATION LAVENDER-GREY GROUND VASE (VASE POTICHE CHINOISE)

The sculptor-modeler and decorator Léopold-Jules-Joseph Gély joined the Sèvres manufactory in 1851 at the age of 31. The sculptor and noted pâte-sur-pâte artist Marc Louis Solon was very complimentary of Gély saying: '...Gifted with an extraordinary skill of hand, he could chisel the porcelain paste with a surety and neatness of touch usually reserved to the treatment of precious metals'.

For a pâte-sur-pâte vase by Louis Solon of the same form, see B. Ducrot, Sèvres, une histoire céramique: Second Empire & IIIeme République de l'audace á la jubilation, Turin, 2008, p. 101.