Wedgwood on a French mantlepiece? - Madame Danloux, by her husband, Henri-Pierre Danloux, circa 1790

 

The portrait of madame Danloux, née Marie-Pierrette-Antoinette de Saint-Rédan, was painted by her husband, Henri-Pierre Danloux, around 1790 at the Château de Passy, ​​near Villeneuve-le-Bois in the Yonne department, the property of the painter's sister-in-law, Anne-Marie-Louise comtesse de Sérilly. According to the son of the artist and madame Danloux, Guillaume-Simon-Pierre Jules Danloux, the painting was created in the room where he was born.

*

On the chimneypiece is prominently displayed a jasperware sucrier by Wedgwood ornamented with a relief which appears to be a part of the "Domestic Employments" series of child groups designed by Emma Crewe. Between 1787 and 1818 she is thought to have produced various designs  - including the "Domestic Employments" series; usually featuring a small girl sewing or spinning - that were used on medallions, notably for jewelry, and often found on jasperware tea services. The matching teapot and cover displays a variant of a design from Lady Templetown's "Maternity" series. These designs by "lady artists" are all in much the same spirit, which has led to difficulties of attribution.

Dominique Daguerre, the famous marchand-mercier, had concluded an exclusive agreement with Wedgwood as early as 1787 for the marketing of the factory’s products in France. But he was also the exclusive agent for the Sèvres factory in London. He therefore worked in close collaboration with both factories, and with the jasperware technique being widely copied by the Sèvres manufacture, it is often difficult to determine the exact provenance of these various pieces. With the Revolution and the Empire, collaboration with the English manufacturer was suspended, and the Sèvres' production featuring "Wedgwood-style" decoration took over.

Lidded bowl (sucrier) and tea service, Wedgwood jasperware, 1787-90.