Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (1724–1780)
October 30, 2007, through January 27, 2008
Designs by Gabriel de Saint-Aubin
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Plate Design: Feathers and Flowers
1774
Pen, ink, and watercolor
Manufacture nationale de Sèvres,
Département des collections
Cat. no. 18 |
This plate design belongs to a group of four that
Saint-Aubin sent to the Sèvres porcelain factory,
where he had family connections. One of the four
was surely submitted for Madame du Barry’s
approval, and the others probably were as well.
As far as we know, none of them was ever manufactured.
The conventional pattern of feathered
plumes and roses comes closest to works produced
within the artist’s family circle.
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Plate Design: Allegories of the Arts
1774
Pen, ink, and watercolor
Manufacture nationale de Sèvres,
Département des collections
Cat. no. 15 |
The design shows Allegories of the Arts
(Architecture, Engraving, Sculpture, Dance, and
Poetry) radiating around the airborne figure of
inspiring genius. It is also noteworthy for its miniature
renderings of works of art well known to contemporaries —
including Jean-Baptiste Pigalle’s
pedestrian monument to Louis XV at Rheims (to
the left of Sculpture)—comparable to sketches in
the artist’s hand-illustrated catalogues.
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The Four Vases
1754
Etching and drypoint
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Cat. no. 14 |
Suites of etched vases for the use of architects and
designers became something of a fashion in Paris
from the 1740s. The fertility of Saint-Aubin’s imagination
is evident in the joyous putti, indolent water
nymphs, and meditative old men seated on lions
who adorn the vessels. Unable to stop himself,
however, he also etched various minuscule vignettes
in the margins of the two lower vases.
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Design for a Watch
1751
Pen and gray ink, brush, and gray wash
Boymans-van Beuningen Museum, Koenigs Collection,
Rotterdam
Cat. no. 13 |
Saint-Aubin only rarely designed objects such as
this exquisite watch case shown frontally and in
profile, featuring a feminine portrait medallion and
allegories evoking the iconography of Friendship
currently associated with Madame de Pompadour.
The complexity of this design would have made it
almost impossible to execute, suggesting that the
artist intended the drawing as a presentation piece
to call attention to his talents.
The accompanying catalogue is available, in both English and French, in the Museum Shop.
Major funding for Gabriel de Saint-Aubin (1724–1780) has been provided by The Florence Gould Foundation. Additional generous support has been provided by The Christian Humann Foundation, the Michel David-Weill Foundation, and The Grand Marnier Foundation.
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The project is also supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. |
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