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Vase de cristal “d’Aliénor”
Provient du trésor de l’abbaye de Saint-Denis
Cristal : Iran ?, VIe - VIIe siècle ?
Monture : Saint-Denis, avant 1147 ; XIIIe et XIVe siècles
Cristal de roche, argent niellé et doré, pierres pécieuses, perles, émaux champlevés sur argent
Inscription : “+ HOC VAS SPONSA DEDIT A(lie)NOR REGI LUDOVICO MITADOL(us) AVO MIHI REX S(an)C(tis)Q(ue) SUGER (ius)”. (ce vase, Aliénor, son épouse, l’a donné au roi Louis, Mitadolus à son aïeul, le roi à moi, Suger, qui l’ai offert aux saints). (this vase, Alienor, his wife, gave it to King Louis; Mitalodius to his ancestor; the King to myself, Suger, who then offered it to the Saints)
The treasury of the abbey of Saint-Denis
Suger, abbot of Saint-Denis from 1122 to 1151 and adviser to Louis VI ad Louis VII, made Saint Denis “special patron of the king and protector of the kingdom.” He began rebuilding his abbey, adding superb stained-glass windows and precious objects. His plan to enrich and embellish the building was based on the Neoplatonic notion that sumptuous and precious objects help people to transcend the material and come closer to the immaterial. The objectsin the treasury are known thanks to the engravings of Félibien, the writings of Blaise de Montesquiou-Fezensac, and the inventory carried out in 1634. Only four of the decorated vases commissioned by Suger survive, one in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., the other three in the Louvre. The “Eleanor” vase was given to Suger by Louis VII. Louis had been given the vase as a gift by his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who had inherited it from her grandfather, William IX of Aquitaine. Suger decided to make an offering of it to the holy martyrs. These successive donations are mentioned in the inscription on its foot and in a text by Suger entitled De administratione.
A Sasanian rock crystal vase
The pear-shaped body of the vase is topped by a neck two centimeters long, hidden by the setting. The vase was in perfect condition until the 18th century, but has since been cracked and chipped. The whole body is carved with a honeycomb pattern formed by twenty-two or twenty-three rows of small hollowed-out hexagons. A similar pattern is found on a blood jasper vase in the collection of Louis XIV’s grandson (now in the Prado, Madrid). The honeycombed pattern is also found in Roman gold and silverware and glassware, from where it spread to influence Sasanian, Islamic, and even Byzantine glassware. The “Eleanor” vase could well date from the Sasanian (6th or 7th century) or post-Sasanian (9th or 10th century) era.
A filigree mount
The mount is made of gilded silver. The base is divided into four separate bands, consisting of, from the bottom up: an inscription in niello; filigree set with precious stones; decoration with fleurons and filigree work; and finally, a smooth, plain surface. The neck is likewise formed of different strips, bulbous or cylindrical, smooth or decorated with filigree and precious stones. The latter are set simply in bezels with milled edges. On the base, the precious stones alternate with pearls. The filigree work around the stones is unusually large with prominent beading, forming compact areas within a smooth, shiny background. Similar filigree work is found on the other vases made for Suger, particularly the chalice now in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the sardonyx ewer (MR 127). This style of filigree was probably influenced by Ottonian and Byzantine pieces. It was probably made in a local workshop by goldsmiths working for the king or the monastery.
These vases are considered to be one of the most famous models introduced by the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres; such discerning patrons as Madame de Pompadour and her brother the Marquis de Marigny collected the form. Among the largest vessels produced by the factory, these vases were extremely difficult to fire; the multiple piercings in the body weakened the overall structure, and they tended to collapse in the kiln. Consequently, only about twelve were ever produced, ten of which survive today.
The shape derives from the nef, a table decoration in the form of a ship, usually of precious metals, used since medieval times. This vase would have held potpourri used to perfume a room. Eighteenth-century ladies made their own, experimenting with various ingredients and sometimes blending essences for as long as nine years. Vases known as vaisseau à mat (masted ships) were made to be sold with other vases of different shapes to form a garniture.
2. Aigle de Suger
Rome, époque impériale (porphyre) et
Paris, avant 1147 (monture)
Paris, Musée du Louvre
This is a porphyry vase dating from the time of ancient Egypt or Imperial Rome, which Suger, abbot of Saint Denis, had mounted with an eagle’s head and spread wings, and with a base formed by the eagle’s tail and claws. The resulting work, in gilded silver and niello inlay, is a magnificent image of a menacing bird of prey. The inscription reads “This stone is worthy of being mounted in gold and precious stone. It was made of marble, but thus mounted, is more precious than marble.”
Pair of vases, ca. 1763
French; Sèvres factory
Soft-paste porcelain(.1a–c) H. 22 1/2 in. (57.1 cm); (.2a–c) H. 22 3/16 in. (56.4 cm)
Gift of R. Thornton Wilson, in memory of Florence Ellsworth Wilson, 1956 (56.80.1a-c,.2a-c)
This form of vase was one of the most unusual and innovative of all those produced at Sèvres, which excelled in developing new shapes and styles of vases. The vase is in the shape of a fortified tower, with buttresses encircling the top of the body. Small gilt-porcelain cannons protrude from underneath the buttresses. The lids are formed as high domes with dormer windows, and a cupola at the top serves as the finial. The body is painted with unusually elaborate war trophies, each composed of various elements associated with military campaigns.
Only one other pair of this model exists and is now in the Huntington Library and Art Gallery in California. It was thought that the pair in the Metropolitan Museum was made as a specific commission or to be given as a present, perhaps by Louis XV, who owned the Sèvres factory. However, the Metropolitan’s vases can be identified in the Sèvres factory’s list of unsold stock in the 1770s; it is possible that the unusual design or overtly military character of the vases discouraged potential buyers.
