Water Jug and Basin
Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
French, 1781
Soft-paste porcelain with gilt metal
Jug: 8 1/4 x 5 5/8 x 5 1/8 in. (21 x 14.3 x 13 cm)
Basin: 11 7/16 × 9 7/8 × 3 1/8 in. (29.1 × 25.1 × 7.9 cm)
Gift of Miss Helen Clay Frick, 1934
Jean-Louis Morin (act. 1754−87), who painted the marine scenes on this water jug and basin, was the son of an army surgeon and studied surgery himself before becoming a porcelain painter. He began his career at Vincennes, where he painted cupids and infants after François Boucher but, perhaps inspired by his family’s army connections, came to specialize in battle scenes and coastal views, then very fashionable.